


The Sound of the Police

by AdorkaliciousNerd



Category: Homestuck
Genre: All Bois are Stressed, Also Jack Noir and the Midnight Crew, Best Friends, City Aparments, Confirmed Rosemary, Dave's a DJ, Especially Karkat, F/F, He's taking care of Dirk, Her and Karkat are Partners, Humanstuck, Kanaya is a Cop, Karkat is a Cop!, M/M, New York, Past Abuse, Rose is a Psychiatrist, Shenanigans, Sorry bois, Stressed Bois, Teenage Shenangians, Teenagers, They're both dense, Too Many Shenangians, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-06-14 05:52:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 49,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15382095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdorkaliciousNerd/pseuds/AdorkaliciousNerd
Summary: Karkat is a cop and Dave is a DJ. They both are forced to move in with one another because of circumstances. Dirk is under Dave's care, and drama ensues.





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

You’ve been on the force for a while now. You’ve done your share of extremely mundane and horrendously boring days. One where you just ticket people and collecting reports from supposed “life-threatening” instances when only an insurance claim needed to be filed instead. Then you’ve had days the same as today. One where your heart beats so loud you think that it is absolutely deafening. It’s the case that will either break or make your career, and the pressure is on. You, Officer Karkat Vantas have been tracking the activity of the local gang, The Midnight Crew and will arrest Jack Noir tonight.

Tonight, you know a huge drug deal is going down at this local Club, Hotshot, and you and your partner, Kanaya Maryam, are ready to lock this place down. The plan is simple. Once Jack takes the money from your co-worker, you raid the place. Jack has got agents crawling over the place, and the very thought of being shot down by someone from afar makes you shudder. Kanaya places a hand on your shoulder to try and calm you down, which it doesn’t. You never really were one for these types of places. Too many people, too many flashing lights, and the music being ten decimeters way too loud. Your head pulses and you tighten your grip on your gun. The bass of the music thumps with you and get a glimpse of the DJ on the stand. He’s…. well. He’s something. You’ve only been to these kinds of places a couple of times, but you have never, ever, seen a DJ like this before. He dances along with the music, spinning the records, grinning stupidly the more the song plays. You’re memorized, but you don’t know why. Kanaya taps you again, and you snap back into focus. Your earpiece crackles, and you hear the dreaded the words that set you into action. “It’s a Deal Mr. Noir.” your Associate says, and you see them shaking Jack’s hands. It takes only a matter of seconds. Kanaya stands on top of the bar and screams, “NYPD, nobody move!” grabbing her gun and firing it into the air. Of course, everybody does the fucking opposite because it’s a fucking club, drugs are being sold everywhere. You hear the Lady next to you scream, and you quickly whip out your handcuffs. One down. You and Kanaya get into smooth work, busting the entire place. She is your partner and has dealt with more of your bullshit, on and off hours. Which is why she’s the only person in the whole world you would trust with your life. “Karkat, the DJ!” she shouts over all the chaos and you see the DJ grab whatever he can of his turntable and bolt. You know exactly how to catch him and bust your scrawny ass doing so. Because you’re so short, you can easily dodge whoever tries to trample you, and shove whoever gets in your way. You book it and throw yourself at the said DJ, who punches you in the face almost immediately. But sadly, no matter how much it hurt, you still have the upper hand. You land on top of him, punch him back, and turn him over to get the cuffs on. Success. You smile down at him as he mutters, “Dirk’s gonna kill me.” and sighs. You got the DJ, which makes you extremely happy for some reason, but then you focus on trying to locate Jack Noir. Ignoring the chaos around you, luckily, you see him dash out a door on the second floor. Your co-worker on the ground bleeding. As you reach out to go and chase him the DJ had managed to grab your leg somehow, which causes you to fall. “Aren’t you supposed to read me my rights or something. Cause...I gotta go..” he says awkwardly. You glare angrily at him because you just have to catch Jack Noir, but by the time you stand up, he’s gone.

“You idiot!” you hiss out at the DJ who wriggles his way towards you.

“Hey, dude. I’m just trying to get home in one piece. I have no clue what’s going on, but I’m just here to play the music.” he says. You try to do those calming breathing exercises they had taught you in one of your remedial classes, but the more you try to calm down the more pissed you get.

“Shut up! You have no clue what you’ve done you imbecile!”

“Imbecile? What are you like 50?” The DJ gives you a smirk, and you let a shaky breath go.

“Shut. Up. Now.” your glare shuts him up immediately, to your glee. Which he quickly ruins with his fucking mouth.

“Or else what, you’re gonna arrest me?” The DJ smirks at you again, and it hits you that he has sunglasses on. It’s a fucking club, why the fuck does he have sunglasses on? The thought of Jack Noir escaping, and the conversation of this idiot and his idiotic sunglasses get you beyond pissed, and you can feel your blood rush into your ears. Instead of snatching the sunglasses and smashing them only to proceed to punch the DJ in the face, you focus your anger on the chaos around you. You march over to the DJ stand, grab the mic, and your gun. You shoot your gun into the air, causing the DJ to flinch, and continue to do so until you’ve run out. Glass begins to fall on top of you both and you barely flinch compared to the DJ who huddles on the ground to shield himself. Shit, fuck. The skylight. You forgot. Ignoring the glass everywhere, you look on to the still quiet crowd. Finally, you have their attention. You tighten your grip on your gun and shout, “IF I SEE ANYONE ELSE MOVE, YOU’RE TAKING A FUCKING BULLET! NOW EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP, AND LET THE OFFICERS DO THEIR FUCKING JOB!” you scream out. You see Jack through the skylight of the club, and the both of you make eye contact. You see his eye widen in shock, and some blood drips from his arm and leg onto your face. “Kanaya, the skylight! Go!” you shout, and Jack begins to limp himself away.

You both sprint up to the roof, only to find a trail of blood and a full moon. “God fucking dammit! We were so fucking close!” you cry, and Kanaya scans around again trying to ensure that he isn’t hiding. The skylight is pretty fucked up from you little burst, and you both tread carefully. You reload your gun and follow Kanaya. She has a talent for finding things that others, specifically you, have overlooked. She follows the trail of blood, and you both have guns drawn. The thing about Jack Noir is that he’s sneaky. If you find him, he will fight like the cornered animal he is. You make it to the very edge of the skylight, and find a rope hanging below it. The trail of blood goes down and Kanaya smiles.  
“Karkat, where did you shoot him again?” she says, turning around. 

“Uh, the leg and arm?”

“So, a man who got shot in both the leg and arm, manages to climb a rope back down to the ground?” she says, and you grin at her. Whirling around, you shoot your gun at the door, hitting Jack for the third time. You watch him go down, unable to move because you pumped him with three bullets. Kanaya smiles wider now, cheek to cheek, and you race towards the notorious gang leader. Kanaya, with her fucking long legs, gets there first and curtsies to give you the honor. She gives you the honor to arrest the guy you’ve been chasing for God knows how long. Few moments in your life you would describe as pure unadulterated joy, and this…. this is one of those moments. You say the words, that, when usually said were spat out in hatred, but tonight, you couldn’t be any happier barking them out to him. “Jack Noire, NYPD Officer Vantas with you here, reading you your fucking rights. You have the right to remain silent. If you do say anything, it can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have a lawyer present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you if you so desire.” You caught him. You fucking caught him. Tears well in your eyes, as you and Kanaya give each other rib crashing hugs which you both will later never admit would have happened. You both smile as you watch him get carted away.

At the end of the night, it’s you who’s taking care of the ensuring people end up in a car heading to a jail cell. Kanaya is excitedly retelling the details of the night to her girlfriend Rose, who you have yet still to meet. You know you’ll bug her about that later. It gives you the best feeling when you see the DJ’s head get shoved in the back of the police van, with his stupid sunglasses still on. You know that there’s going to be a shit ton of paperwork to do when you get back, but for now, you take another sip of coffee, overseeing this chaos as it slowly destroys itself, and watch the sunrise.


	2. Chapter 2

You finish making your phone call to your twin sister, Rose, who was extremely happy about your unfortunate situation. You, Dave Strider, was just about finished with your last set for the night when the club you were working at got busted. For what, you’re still unsure. You get a glimpse of the dude who busted you doing your best-unseen glares at him. He grabs a cup of coffee returning to his desk to finish up his paperwork. He grumbles at the stack of papers in front of him, takes a long sip of coffee, and gets started on it. Even though he is still the asshole cop who arrested you without a good reason, he’s still kind of cute. In a no homo, sort of way. He has big fluffy black hair which seems to have a mind of its own. Freckles sprawl across his face and his dark brown eyes are rimmed with dark circles. You take it back, he’s cute in a sort of homo way. But you’re still pissed at him. Because of his stupid arrest of you, it means that you’re going to be late getting home, and that means an extremely moody Dirk. And even though he’s only thirteen, he is moody enough for a hundred thirteen-year-olds, which can be a pain in the ass all the fucking time. But he especially hates it when you leave for jobs. You sigh and slump over in the cell with multiple other miscellaneous people around you. Things couldn’t get any worse in your honest opinion. That is until your Savior comes to bust you out of this joint

You, Officer Vantas, take another sip of coffee as you walk back to your desk, ignoring the DJ’s stare. Although you promised Kanaya you would take care of the paperwork, there is still a shit ton of work to complete. But, to make it fair, she is currently talking to your Captain. You hate you Captain with a burning passion, and right now you could say that the feeling is mutual. Captain Feferi Peixes, youngest one to become Captain in this precinct, but that still doesn’t rid your feelings of hatred of her. She is always bubbly and happy, but the moment you piss her off she is the scariest motherfucker you’ve ever dealt with. You can hear Kanaya trying to defend your actions of shooting the skylight and swearing at the crowd of civilians threatening them with having them, “Take a fucking bullet!”. You know even with Kanaya’s unbreakable loyalty to you, and the biggest fucking bust of your career, you’ll be on traffic duty until Captain Peixes isn’t mad at you anymore. You peek at the DJ out of the corner of your eye. Is he still “looking” at you? It’s impossible to tell because of the stupid fucking sunglasses. But, he is.... again something. He has clearly bleached his hair white, but he’s also so motherfucking pale, it’s like there’s a ghost in the jail cell instead of a douchebag DJ. Your thoughts are interrupted when you see a woman burst in screaming, “Where is my brother!”. She’s clearly pissed, and everyone in the office is looking at you. Of course, because you’re the one who probably brought him in with the others. “You!” she turns her purple eyes towards you and glares at you with the power of a thousand suns. Normally, you could shake these kinds of people off, soccer moms with supposed innocent sons or sons of important people, etc (Boy, does society love to let teenage boys off the hook like their actions don’t have consequences.), but this one seems to be dangerously pissed. You sip your coffee preparing the biggest fucking speech you’ve ever graced your peers with. Kanaya pokes her head out to see what’s going on, and for the first time in her life, you watch her jaw drop.

“Rose? What on earth are you doing here?” she asks, and you spit out your coffee.

“Wait! This,” you point your finger at the clearly pissed woman, “is the Rose Lalonde! I thought you said she was nice and gentle?” you yell at Kanaya who grins at you.

“Yeah. I’ll be so ever nice and gentle when I fucking kick your ass! Now, where the fuck is my brother!” She marches over to you, and you throw your hands up in surrender.

“Jesus, Rose. When I asked you to bust my outta of this joint, I didn't say make a fucking scene!” The DJ says calmly, standing up and leaning against the prison bars. Of fucking course, they’re related.

“Ma’am, Ms. Lalonde, whatever. There is a reason why your brother found himself in a jail cell, so I would suggest we all take a calming breath in and try to find a solvable issue to the problem-” you’re cut off.

“Are you the Officer who arrested him? What’s your name?” she demands, poking a finger into your chest.

“Uh, Officer Vantas. But Ms. Lalo-”

“No. Now it’s my turn. I talked to Dave, and you sir, are in huge fucking trouble. You picked the wrong day to mess with my family. From what Dave told me you tackled him, punched him in the face, swore at him multiple times, and arrested him without reading him his rights! I’m going to have you fucking suspended!” her face turns a bit red, and she says all of this in one breath. Then you see something registers on her face, and she turns and faces Kanaya. “Wait, this isn’t you partner Officer Vantas is it?” she asks her, and Kanaya slowly nods. No one says a fucking word. Although you’re the one in trouble, Rose sure does know how to make a person feel like they’re in trouble even when they’re innocent.

“Rose, what in the actual fuck! I called you to get me out, not ruin this poor man’s life! Look at him, he’s doing fucking paperwork, maybe he’s a rookie or something?” Dave tries to defend you and you angrily glare at him.

“This is my eighth year being here douchebag!”

 

“Aren’t you like 19 or something?” 

 

“I’m fucking 30!” Rose glares at you once again shutting you up and marches over to her brother.

“Dave, I understand you’re playing nice, but this incompetent officer is ruining your life too. So, it’s only fair I take him down with you.” That seems to shut the DJ, or Dave, up. She turns her attention back at you and winks at Kanaya. Wait. Why the fuck did she wink? “Officer Vantas, I could make this entire problem disappear of course…”

“What problem?” you ask her.

“The one where you hurt my innocent brother.”

“But he’s not innocent. He punched me in the face first look.” You show her the bruise on the side of your cheek. “The only reason why I tackled him, was because he tried to run. Anyone here knows the guilty run. Look, Lady, I get that you care for brother or something, but he is capable of making mistakes. Mistakes which he does have to pay for responsibly like the adult he is.” you say calmly. You hear Dave go, “Aw man.” softly in the background. She waves a hand in front of your face to cut you off.

“Forgive me. Did I say the issue is when you hurt my brother? No, sorry, it’s when I sue your ass for not doing your job and bringing the unwanted media to swarm your precinct.” This one not only gets your attention but your Captain’s.

“Rose, was it? Don’t worry about Officer Vanats. He was going to be suspended anyway for his actions at the bar.” she says.

“Wait, what! I literally didn’t do anything!” you try and defend yourself, but Captain Peixes gives you one of her famous smile glares. You don’t say anything.

“Weren’t you the one who was just preaching how actions have consequences or some shit like that?” Dave smirks at you and your face turns red.

“Shut the fuck up. You, actually, made a fucking mistake. I did my job.” you snap at him. Finally, one of your co-workers jumps up.

“Why don’t all of you try to figure this out somewhere, more private?” he suggests, and you glare at him but nod your head. Kanaya grabs Dave out of the cell, handcuffs on, and Rose walks briskly behind her into the conference room. Your Captain glares at you as she holds the door open for you. You trudge your way into the room, reminiscing the time when you were happy. Why does it only feel like years ago you managed to bag Jack Noir? You feel drained but walk in the conference room anyways.

You, Dave Strider, think how kinky it is that two lesbians walk you into an unknown room with handcuffs on. And how hot is should be to imagine it, but sadly you and your gay ass can’t really phantom being turned on by it. When you say this to Rose, she pinches your shoulder. Hard. Officer Vantas closes the door behind him and sighs. The only seat left is next to you, but he decides to chill in front of the door.

“Officer Vantas, your suspension is long overdue. When you damaged the skylight in Hotshot it was the only thing I needed. Kanaya has been trying to give me valid reasons on why you did what you did, but many onlookers said that you were threatening the crowd into silence. Even some of your co-workers.” this lady says. It seems like she’s the boss of this place, and Officer Vantas looks pissed.

“I did because I got a clear shot at Jack Noir! It slowed him down enough for us,” he points wildly at Kanaya, Rose’s girlfriend that she never mentioned, “to make the arrest!” he finishes, faces red. Rose purposely avoids your eyes but keeps her signature Rose smirk on. “Also, should we focus on making sure the media doesn’t get a whiff of my supposed,” he glares at Rose now, “police brutality against a white male?” he says instead, meeting his boss’s glare. The look she gives him back is so terrifying and horrible, that you can’t even put it to words. He stays quiet.

“You mentioned earlier about forgetting the whole thing? How?” the boss lady demands. Both her and Kanaya share a look. Rose clears her throat, and you know she’s loving all the attention.

“I want Officer Vantas to move in with my brother,” she says simply. Now you fully face her.

“What the fuck, no! I didn’t consent to this! Hell no, I’m not having Officer Anger Issues move into the apartment with me. Fuck no. Rose!” you protest, and Officer Vantas, for once, nod with you in agreement.

“Kanaya, are you on board with this?” he asks her accusingly. Kanaya nods sheepishly, and he glares at her more so now. This dude is pissed off constantly. “Also, I don’t fucking have anger issues!” he yells at you. Kanaya giggles a bit but stops immediately after getting a look from Officer Vantas.

“Look, Karkat. I love you, and I only want the best for you. And, I don’t think you should keep living by yourself. I’ve been checking up on you Karkat, and the only human interaction you get outside of work is with me. And this isn’t me betraying you. It’s an intervention. You live in a sketchy neighborhood, your apartment is constantly dark, your lease is up, and worse of all, your social interaction has gotten so bad you have to go to the next town over to find a grocery store you haven’t been banned in.” she says coldly. Karkat’s face turns red, like really red, and only seems to prove your point of him having anger issues.

“No... I get plenty of human interaction! Intervention! I’m fucking fine Kanaya! I can’t believe this! Plus, even if that was true, why the fuck would I want to talk to people outside of work anyways! You’re my best friend! And ARGHHH!” After realizing that his points aren’t making any sense, and no one was taking them seriously, he resorted to just screaming in frustration.

“I don’t fucking want him in the house Rose. I can’t,” you argue pointing at the screaming mess of an Officer, but she faces you.

“Karkat’s hours ensure that someone is home with Dirk, so he’s not home alone. You can rest easy if CPS tries some surprise visits, and most of all, you both will benefit from this.” Rose says instead.

“Who’s even with Dirk right now!” you say frustratingly.

“Roxy.”

“Oh. My fears and worries are gone knowing if the CPS show up, it will be one thirteen years old and a soon to be thirteen years old left home alone.” you throw at her snarkily.

“At least I didn’t get arrested” she throws back at your face. The Captain lady clears her throat, interrupting your bickering.

“Are you saying that all we have to do so that you don’t go crazy with the media, is that Officer Vantas moves in with your brother? Easy done,” she says with a smile. Karkat glares so angrily at her, you’re surprised he hasn’t burst a vein yet.

“Fuck no. Captain.”

“You aren't suspended anymore.”

“Fine. But I will refuse if this douchebag doesn’t want me in his apartment. He is an adult and I’m not moving anywhere I’m not welcomed.” he says, looking at you.

“Do you actually love your job that much that you’re willing to move in with a complete stranger? You’re fucking messed up dude,” you say.

“I think you got your answer Captain,” he says snootily.

“Then I guess you’re still suspender Officer.” Karkat glances nervously at you. Rose taps you on your elbow.

“It’s fine. Dave, you can just let Officer Vantas be suspended despite the fact he was willing to comply, and you can find someone else to pay your fine for you,” she says with a smile. You glare at her, but then realize, fuck, glasses.

“Fine. He can move in!” you hiss out, and Officer lets out a relieved sigh.

“And how long do I have to live with him for?” he asks Kanaya. You look at Rose, cause you want a fucking answer too.

“Only until you make three outside friends, and Dave isn’t being harassed by the CPS,” Rose says affirmatively.

“Do we have a deal?” the Captain says. You look at Officer Vantas, who nods at you, and you give a nod back.

“Yeah whatever,” he says.

“Perfect,” she smiles now, “Now you’re dismissed for the day cause you’re moving out!” she says gleefully, and Kanaya and Rose share the same satisfied relieved look. This is going to be...interesting. You’re released from the cuffs by Officer Vantas, who doesn’t say a word to you. Rose finishes clearing you up with Kanaya, and Officer Vantas stands awkwardly in front of you.

“So. We’re roommates?” you say awkwardly not wanting to stand in silence. He glances up at you and gives a slight nod. “Also, I should mention that I have a thirteen-year-old younger brother living with me. And he’s moody.” you give him a heads up. He sighs.

“Fan-fucking-tastic” he takes a sip of his cold coffee.

“Cool.” and you both wait for Kanaya and Rose to come back over to you guys in stark silence. Rose comes back with a very un-Rose smile and a grinning Kanaya. You must remember to annoy her later about having a secret girlfriend.

“Karkat, dear, are you ready to go?” she asks, and he grunts. She takes that as a yes and begins to move towards the exit. “I’m going to go help him move out, will you please text me his address?” she asks Rose who nods. You watch the two head into what looks like Karkat’s car, waiting awkwardly behind them for some weird reason.

“Time to go home and tell Dirk a stranger’s moving in. He’s going to be stoked” you say sarcastically. She punches you in the arm and follows after Kanaya. 

“I seriously do think that this is going to be best for the both of you and I love you,” she says, immediately diffusing any anger you still might’ve had.

“I know. Let’s just get back home, so I can be chewed out by my little brother.”

“Sounds like a perfect day to me.”

 

“Fuck you Rose.” and you both exit the precinct. The afternoon sun hits your face and you wince. How bad is that artificial light anyways? You see Karkat go in his car, and immediately start on a rant, which you kinda can’t help but laugh at. He bangs his head against the wheel multiple times, as Kanaya tries to calm him down. Cars honk back him because it’s New York, and Karkat angrily flips each one off as they drive by. Rose sees what you’re seeing and laughs at it too. Karkat seems to notice your laughter and honks angrily at the both of you, flipping you both off before driving off.

“He’s something isn’t he?” you laugh and Rose nods with a smile. You get in the care and prepare for your brand new roommate.


	3. Chapter 3

You and Kanaya make it back to your apartment. You, Karkat Vantas, do your usual protocol to enter your apartment safely. You check to see if the hair’s still on the door, an old trick that a movie taught you, which one you forget. When the hair is on the door still you open the door slowly, allowing just enough space to barely squeeze your head in and scan the room. The moment you know it’s clear, you do a quick walk around the apartment making sure that hair is still on the rest of the doors. You’re all good, there’s no evidence of anyone being here and you’re safe, for now. You release the breath you didn’t even know you were holding and set your stuff down on the foldable chair in the middle of the living room. Saying you’re apartment is small is an insult to small people, including yourself. It’s a fucking closet with even smaller rooms in it. You have a kitchen that you never use, a chair in the living room because you don’t have friends that come over, and anything else that any human being needs. Laptop, clothes, miscellaneous items. Your apartment is bare, to say the least, but you only use that place for sleeping anyways. You turn around and motion in a shocked Kanaya.

“Karkat, what in the actual fuck!” she stands at the doorway, her eyes wide. 

“What, Kanaya?” you groan. The swearing should shock you, but so far you’ve had a long day. 

“You just walked into your apartment like how we walk into a building looking for a suspect. It’s worse than I thought.”

“There’s nothing wrong with the way I walk into my apartment!”

“You’re paranoid Karkat!” she yells at you, and you face away from her, face red. 

“At least I didn't force my best friend to move in with a stranger,” you grumble, and now her face goes red. 

“Karkat, we discussed this in our death-teasing ride in the car,”

“Death-teasing?”

“Shut up! I did this because I'm worried about you. Your social isolation is worse than Sollux’s when a game deadline is near. You’re more paranoid than I’ve ever seen you and worse of all, your anger has gotten so out of hand that you’re even snapping more at me than usual. I'm worried about my friend. This,” the point at your apartment with a perfectly manicured finger, “is only proving me right. I know you feel hurt that I think this or feel like I’ve betrayed you somehow by having you do this, but knowing you live like this Karkat. It hurts me even more.” She finishes. Now, it’s your turn to stand in shock. It's very unlike Kanaya to yell, or scream, or lose any of her usual graceful composure. You’re shocked to a point beyond words. Which for you, is like extremely fucking shocked. It’s when she wipes at her face, that you feel guilty. You hand her a tissue as it finally sinks in how worried she is about you. And, as someone who is supposed to be her best friend, you feel bad not knowing how she felt sooner. 

“I’m sorry,” you say, and she sniffs. 

“Karkat. Just move in with him. Please. I don't want you to keep living like this.” She says, and you nod. She cleans herself up in the bathroom, as you start to pack. There really isn't much to do though. You’ve got the TV, a singular chair, a small stack of books, your bed, a more than average amount of blankets, and your clothes. Since your work is your life, you only have a pair of jeans and a shit ton of sweaters. You live in your uniform and have gotten to a perfect system of wearing it even when you aren't working. You never know when they’ll call you back in to pick up an extra shift or so. And your diet isn't exactly the best, but isn't that what fast food chains are for? You rely heavily on all the local restaurants to nourish you and have gotten so used to it you threw out your refrigerator a while back. Did you mention that your work is your life? Kanaya goes down to your landlord and finishes up the paperwork needed for you to leave. Looking at yourself pack your too few items you can see why Kanaya was so worried. You only ever come to this place to sleep not to do normal adult things like…., live? When she comes back you’re all set and ready to go. 

“Is this all you have?” she says, yet again shocked. It's only two boxes and the rest, bed and tv, are big enough for each of you to carry. Including the frame. 

“Yeah. Don't judge too harshly. I’m usually working all the time so….” you trail off. She rolls her eyes at you. 

“The only thing I'm judging is why on earth would you have a gray flannel. It doesn't work with anything.” She picks it up with disgust, leaving it behind and faces you again. “Here’s your deposit back. Your landlord said you're fine to leave but you have to leave the chair, bed, and TV behind. Apparently, you got the apartment fully furnished and she wants to keep it that way.” 

“Ok. Less work for us. Does the douchebag have a bed at his place? You know what nevermind. I’ll sleep on his couch.” you grin a bit saying this grabbing a box. Kanaya shrugs and grabs the other box, as the two of you head back down to your car. You start the car up, not before glancing at Kanaya. “Are you sure this is the best idea?” you ask. She smiles at you and nods, as the two of you pull away and head to your new place. 

===>

When you and Rose pull up to your place you, Dave Strider, prepare yourself for the angstiest battle of a lifetime. Dirk isn't going to be happy to hear a stranger is coming to live with them. Nor will he be happy to see you come back after you triple promised him you would be back by 2am the latest. You sigh and debate whether or not you should walk into the apartment. Rose smirks at you, then grabs your arm. 

“You have to get this done sooner or later. Let’s just rip the bandage off now,” she says, and you nod. You make your way up to the penthouse apartment preparing for the worst. 

“Where the hell have you been?” you already hear Dirk through the door. He runs up and whips the door open, glaring at you so hard that you can see it even with his shades on. 

“Funny story bud…”

“Don’t bud me. I’m not a little kid. Where the fuck has you been?” Seeing how you both were raised, trying to teach him to not swear wasn’t in your best interest. At least now it’s under control. Little three-year-old Dirk was adorable, but when the only word he was able to muster was, “Fuck” the whole toddler charm just disappeared with it. 

“You’re gonna laugh…” he stares at you, “....in jail?” you try and shrug it off and he’s so pissed he slams the door in your face. Rose is holding back a laugh at the whole thing, and you glare at her. She doesn’t see it. “Dirk, c’mon. Please don’t lock me out of the apartment.” you beg. This is his usual way of showing how pissed he is. He locks you out of the apartment and refuses to let you back in until he’s calmed down. You find it easier to wait in the hall than try and break back into your apartment. Dirk gets more pissed when you do, and after years of dealing with this, you kinda got used to it.

“No. You said I’m not supposed to have anyone over when you aren’t home. Especially prisoners.” he yells through the door. 

“Dirk, please. I’ll explain more if you let me in.” 

“No!” 

“Don’t make me use the key.” you threaten. The key threat is used only when you truly believe that things are getting too out of control. Dirk knows this too, and he also knows you aren’t going to be happy either if you do. A moment passes, and you reach in to grab your keys from your pocket. When Dirk sees your serious, he opens the door.

“Dave! How could you get arrested! I mean, you said DJing was the safest, coolest job ever. Explain to me how, HOW you got arrested.” he stands to block the door. He moves to let Rose in and leaves you stranded in the hall. 

“I was tackled by a cop who has some serious anger issues?” you try. His face remains in the stoic. “The main reason was that I was trying to get back to you, and he thought I was running away. There was a huge bust at the club,” you explain more. He glares at you but moves to let you in. When you go in, you see Roxy watching MLP. They’ve probably been up all night. You sigh when you see the littered cans of Fanta and empty cheeto packages around the couch. “Dirk, what did I say about the junk food?” you complain. He pushes past you and heads towards the couch. 

“What did I say about being back on time?” he fires back at you. He glances up at Rose, who shakes the sleeping Roxy awake. Ok, so she wasn’t watching MLP but this definitely means that Dirk hasn’t slept all night. 

“Dirk, please! I did everything but the dude wasn’t having it. That’s why I called Rose.” you look to Rose for assistance. She shuts off the TV, and Roxy shifts awake. 

“It was….quite interesting to see your brother in jail.” she says, “But yes, I did take care of it. That Police Officer had a couple of...issues. As Dave put it, he was very angry.” she tells him calmly. He finally makes eye contact with you without any resentment. 

“And you promised that you did everything?” Dirk asks you and you nod. He runs and hugs you. “I’m sorry,” he says and you ruffle his hair.

“It’s not your fault Dirk. Anyways we worked it out. Rose was great!” you smile at him. Roxy stands up and groans at the sunlight coming in. He pulls away from the hug and faces Rose when he hears Roxy groan. 

“Please tell me you got that asshole cop fired Auntie Rose?” he looks up at her and she smiles at me. 

“I’ll leave your brother to tell that story. I have to go now. Roxy, c’mon.” She nudges her younger sister awake, and Roxy gets up. Before she leaves she stops by you. 

“Good luck with him Uncle Dave. Bye Dirk!” she says, and follows Rose out. 

“Bye Roxy! So...tell me everything that happened!” Dirk bounces excitedly. Dirk hasn’t been the type of kid to excitedly bounce at anything. It actually pleases you to see him so actively showing his feelings. It was like pulling teeth to make him say anything related to how he felt, and that was when he was nine. Now you’ve got a whole lot of feelings and more from him, but nothing makes you prouder. You quietly curse Rose for making you deal with this by yourself and accept your fate of being locked out again. You take a deep breath in. 

===>

You, Karkat Vantas, and Kanaya take the elevator to the top floor of the complex. Luckily you managed to get everything you have, all of it, in one go. You both are staring at Dave, as he is slumped over the door to his place, completely disheveled. And with those stupid, godforsaken, fucking sunglasses. Kanaya gently shakes him awake, and he jumps up the moment he sees you. 

“Kat-kat, bro, you’ve gotta help me!” he begs clinging to your shirt. You place your box down and ignore the ever-present throbbing of a headache. 

“What the fuck did you just call me?”

 

“Dude, I’ve been locked out for,” he glances at his watch, “4 hours, 13 minutes and counting. Please bro, I have a gig in like 3 hours!” he pleads. 

“My name is not Kat-kat!” you yell and Kanaya giggles, then gently knocks on the door. 

“Hello, is anyone in there?” she calls out. She gets a quick,”Leave me alone!” in response. She laughs loudly now. “Dirk. It’s me!” she calls out. Dave gives her a quick look on confusion. Dirk opens the door slightly and lets Kanaya in only to slam it shut before you and Dave could go in. 

“Wait?” Dave stands up now, fixing himself up and looking at the door curiously, “How the fuck do you know Kanaya!” he yells at the door. 

“At least I actually know her before I let her in. I’m not living with a stranger!” the voice behind the door yells back. You sigh loudly and walk up to the door. Locked. Of fucking course. 

“Hey, uh, kid!” you call out, “I know this isn’t the best situation,” you hear him scoff through the door, “but at least I know that there’s someone competent in this place.” you sigh leaning against the door. You hear some shuffling, and you can hear his hand resting on the doorknob. 

“What do you mean someone competent?” you hear the voice ask quietly. You continue on grabbing the box and praying this works.

“Let’s be honest, your brother managed to get arrested playing music, because his idiotic ass decided running away from a bust would prove his innocence. Now, because of his foolish mistake, we have to be punished along with him for it. I had dealt with him for like 20 minutes longer than I had too and I know he’s an insufferable prick that can’t keep his fucking lips shut. And when he said that he had a younger brother I thought I would be dealing with a mini him. Now it’s crystal clear that you’re the one keeping this idiot alive. How you do it on a daily basis, I’m unsure, but you managed to do it. Which means you’re smart and patient enough to live with his constantly moving lips.”

“First, harsh,” Dave interrupts and you roll your eyes at him. He decides this means to continue, “Constantly moving lips? Does this mean you’ve been watching my totally kissable lips Kat-Kat?” 

“That’s not my name goddammit!” you yell at him, and he only smirks back. 

“Didn’t deny watching them though,” he says, and you bang your head against the door, and in turn, bringing your attention back the kid. 

“I only have a glimpse of what you’re living with. Maybe this douchebag is smarter than he looks? Maybe this insufferable prick isn’t as insufferable as I deem him to be? Maybe he’ll actually get my fucking name right, asshole,” you flip him off then, “The point is, I respect your patience and intelligence of living with him. All I want to do is make both of our lives easier, dealing with him some of the time, and you being the kid you’re supposed to be and not a babysitter.” you say. You half mean it, because Kanaya was worried about you and you don’t know this kid. But at the same time, it looks like Dave’s been dealing with this teenager by himself and that’s difficult as hell. The door opens a crack. 

“You’re here to make our lives easier?” the kid asks cautiously.

“Yup.”

“And you think I’m taking care of my brother?”

“He got arrested for running away when he’s innocent. Everyone knows not to run when you’re innocent.” you roll your eyes. 

“Dave,” the voice address him, and Dave looks so relieved, “You promise that I won’t have to be home alone?” he asks. What a strange request? You ignore it, and Dave nods. 

“Little dude, I will literally do everything to ensure that you won’t have to be home alone ok?” Dave says calmly.

“Fine.” The door swings wide open, and you look down to see a mini version of Dave. Guess in your long-winded speech about this how Dirk isn’t a mini version of Dave you were wrong. Dirk is as pale as Dave is, looking like an almost look alike, except with different shades and an unkempt hairstyle. Dave rushes past you and hugs Dirk. 

“Little dude, I’m begging you to not lock me out of the apartment!” Dave says, hugging the teenager. 

“I’m not ‘Little dude’ anymore Dave. I’m Dirk. God. And maybe, if you don’t break your promises all the fucking time.” Dirk says sassily, letting his brother hug him not really hugging back. “And you’re…” he trails off waiting for you to finish the sentence. It hits you suddenly that Dave has no clue what you’re name is. 

“Karkat. Karkat Vantas.” You stare Dave down when saying this. “Nice to meet you Dirk.” you reach a hand out to shake which he takes gladly. “Dave,” you say coldly, and he glances at you, letting Dirk go. 

“Yeah yeah, whatever Kitkart,” he says, then takes the box out of your hand. “I’ll help you get the rest since I'm such a good Samaritan with constantly moving lips,” he says, placing it on their coffee table. Kanaya snorts, at this point, into her cup of tea. You both look at her, as she resumes her usual poise of grace. 

“That’s everything Karkat has,” she explains. You glare at her, and she puts the cup of tea down. “I was merely helping myself while you were working out some issues,” she explains the tea. You roll your eyes and grab the box. 

“Just please show me to my room,” you ask, and Dave nods, taking you to the room down the hall. Despite this being an apartment complex this penthouse was fucking huge. Your room was as big as your old apartment and then some, and you set the box down. He comes back in with the other one, and you settle in. “So...uh…” you begin awkwardly. Great, now this fucker gets to see your non-existent social skills be put to work.

“Please, ask me anything,” he says, neutral expression. That seems to be his two modes, neutral or smirk. 

“I have to ask. You do know how to say my name right?” you ask, not breaking eye contact. You can’t tell if you’re looking at him though because of his shades. He moves into face 2, smirk. 

“Of course Karkat,” he says, leaving you alone. The rest of the day goes surprisingly well. Dave leaves at 9 for a DJ job as he said he would, leaving you home alone with Dirk. Dirk stays polite for two seconds before asking if, “We could go for pizza”. Which you do. It’s interesting though since he actually doesn’t seem to be stereotypically ashamed to be walking with an adult in public. You eat your pizzas and Dirk asks a shit ton of questions about cases you’ve worked on. What were you working on when you arrested Dave? (Fucking Jack Noir) Have you ever shot a person? (Question should be, who haven’t you shot?)Do you have a gun on you? (Legally can’t say, but no.) Just normal teenage questions that often arise when they can ask them to a police officer. You ask him about friends (Roxy, Jane, and some kid named Jake. You think he likes Jake), Rose and Kanaya (he knows just as much as you do, they’re dating), and romances (Again that Jake’s name comes up again and now you know for sure that Dirk has a serious crush but just doesn’t know it yet.) The two of you head back to the apartment, where Dirk goes to sleep. He says he spent the entire night up, and at his age, you allow him to have pride in that. You, on the other hand, finish unpacking, talking to friends on Pesterchum until it’s morning. Fuck. You get ready for your shift and wave hi to Dave who is sitting in the living room drinking coffee next to his laptop. 

“Morning KitKat,” he says without glancing up. You glare at him, pour a glass yourself, and head out the door. 

“Morning Dave. See you later.” you wave leaving the two of them to their shenanigans. You head to work without having any surprises. Captain Peixes puts you on traffic duty and you and Kanaya have a grand time giving people tickets. Captain Peixes allows you to take some of the office work home with you because there is too much of that shit still to do, and you swear on your badge you’ll bring it back. You wave bye to Kanaya who has a date that night and head back to your place. Your life hasn’t really changed that much, now with two people in it, and you kinda prefer it to be that way. You head back to the apartment, for once in somewhat of a pleasant mood. It’s when you arrive that it all goes to shit!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait, but hopefully it was worth it! The next Chapter should be out around the same time next week.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that it took so long to get this chapter out. It is a long one though, so please enjoy! (Explanation for absence found at the bottom.)

You, Karkat Vantas, make your way back to your new home. You’re mildly pleased because a day ago you felt like your life had spiraled out of control. Right, when you walk up to the complex you see Strider. “Dude isn’t it fucking freezing why the hell is you just standing there! Go inside you and stop staring like a dumbass,” you shout at the man you assumed to be Stride and, on closer inspection, you see it’s clearly not him. He has a stupid baseball cap on along with the fucking shades (You get the feeling that his family and the sunglasses are a trend of some sort you just don’t understand yet.) with scruffy looking facial hair. As much as Dave pisses you off, he does know how to make sure he’s looking neat. The man shifts his attention to you presumably, because fuck the shades. 

“You know my brother!” the man beams, showing his teeth, and it’s weird because he looks like he doesn’t smile often.

“Yes. Who the fuck are you and why are you standing in front of the complex?” you question.

“I’m his older Bro! Nice to meet you Mr….”

 

“Mr. Vantas. I hate to fucking repeat myself, but I guess that’s what’s going on. Why the fuck are you standing in front of the complex freezing your ass off?” you glare at him. Dave never mentioned having a “Bro” and if he did, then why stand outside? They must not be on good terms. You wait for his answer, even though you know you shouldn‘t be involved. Something gives you the creeps looking at this guy. He bleeds creepy pedo vibes.

“Oh, uh, I was supposed to come over today, but it looks like the little dude forgot about it and I can’t even get in the front door to ring the place without a key. He’s not picking up his phone either, so I guess I’ll go. I was so looking forward to it too since Dirky messaged me to come.” Bro said. You feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand as this man talks. He’s lying, and you don’t know why. But then he sighs pathetically and goddam your fucking sympathy. “I guess I’ll try again some other time.” he lowers his head and begins to walk off. Your instincts scream at you to do two different things in this situation, causing you to want to punch the wall in frustration. Should you let the suspicious man in or carry on inside? In the end, your fucking heart wins this battle. Damn your heart! You grumble to yourself and fish out your new keys. 

“Look, dude, I'm heading up there now. You seem suspicious as fuck, but if Dirk messaged you then why should I keep you from seeing your family?” you say. He smiles and that again sends shivers down your back. Maybe you should have listened to your head. You open the door and Bro follows you to the penthouse apartment. You jiggle with the keys as he waits patiently, breathing down your neck. Ok, now you’re starting to really rethink your decision of taking him up here. Normally, you would be suspicious of having a total stranger coming into your place of residence, but the lack of sleep and security of your most recent bust clouds your judgment. The moment the door opens, you see Dave, in the kitchen finishing up dinner. 

“Yo, Vantas, I have to leave to work a gig soon, but I made spaghetti so I guess free dinner while babysitting? Dirk’s at the library but he should be finishing up soon. Studies way too much the nerd, but anyways did you bring someone up with you and don’t lie cause I can hear their breathing and shit-” Dave stops his rambling before you can even say anything. He just kinda stares at you, and then at his Bro in a shocked silence. That’s one way to shut him up. 

“What. The Fuck are you fucking doing here!” Dave yells angrily. Even with your short time living together, you can tell that it’s unlike Dave to lose his composure in this manner. You’ve only seen neutral and smirk. This is pure anger. Bro smiles at him and now you know for a fact that it was most definitely a mistake bringing him up here. 

“Can’t I just talk to my little dude for a bit-” Bro tries to explain himself, but Dave angrily, yet cool, lifts a hand to shut him up. You wouldn’t be lying if you said that you didn’t find that a little hot. 

“What part of stay away from my fucking family did you not understand you son of a bitch!” Dave shouts at Bro, “Get the fuck out of my fucking apartment now!” 

“Wait, I thought you were expecting him? You and Dirk?” you sputter confused. You knew he was lying but not that much. You thought it was a little white lie. 

“You brought this fucker in here! Fuck off Karkat! What the hell were you thinking? And you,” Dave growls the last word out with full hatred supposedly glaring at his Bro, “Get. The. Hell. Out. Of. Here. Now!” he stomps over to his brother, yelling in his face. Ok, so moving from kinda hot to concerning. You thought Dave was tall, but when Bro fixes his posture you noticed how he hulks over Dave. 

“Do you even want to know why I’m here or are you just gonna keep yelling at me like a sissy.” Your blood runs cold when you hear Bro talk. At this point, he has a full blown southern accent, and his voice is cold. He spits out the last word and Dave stands in fear, not saying anything. Bro takes this as an opportunity. “Once a sissy always a sissy, you fucking pansy!” he starts, and you can only stand in horror. What the fuck, it was such a good day?! You see Dave’s handshake a bit, but he still remains in silent fear. “I came here to settle things once and for all. I wanna strife for Dirk, roof now!” he shouts again. Wait for the roof? What the everloving fuck did you do bringing that man here!

“No,” Dave whispers.

“What did you say, you fucking pansy?” Bro asks, and you can tell that he’s somehow getting off of this, the sick bastard.

“I said, no,” Dave repeats again. His Bro, impatient with his answer pulls a fucking sword from behind his back, the situation’s most definitely escalated. Bro points the sword at Dave.

“What did you fucking say you fucking freak!” Bro screams at him. Why are just watching this go down? Dave pushes the sword away from his face and looks at his Bro. 

“I. Said. No.” Dave barely manages to get this out through clenched teeth, and Bro, damn. You’ve never seen anybody look that angry before. He reaches around you to grab at Dave. Whatever trance you were in before, you snap out of it. Quickly, you push down on Bro’s elbow, effectively knocking the sword to the ground. He still has a grip on Dave, who helplessly tries to pull away from him. Bro turns his attention back at you and you face him with all the anger and might you possibly can. You are not one to fucking duped over. You are usually not so trusting and this moment, this situation proves you to be right. Not to trust anyone ever. You glare at him watching his movements to see what he’s going to do next. Dave falls limp in his grip when he hears the sword clatter to the ground, and Bro thinks this is a good moment as any to try and force Dave to go to the fucking roof. For what? Still no clue, but you know it’s bad and that this man is not to be trusted ever. He watches you as he pulls on Dave, testing you to see what you do. You do the only thing you know how to do best. 

“Karkat Vantas, NYPD. Let go of Dave. Immediately.” You say pulling out your badge on Bro. The look on his face goes from, haha I got you beat to holy fucking shit a cop so he’s tiny I can take him. Why do they always think that? Bro smirks at you let go of Dave and moves towards the door. 

“Is this your boyfriend or something? I fucking knew you were gay.” At this point, he takes a moment to actually spit on Dave. You move closer to him preparing to take him the fuck down when Dave stops you. You glance at Dave on the floor and try and bring your attention back to Bro, but he’s already gone. 

===>

Your name’s Dave Strider and you are actually having the worst day ever. Karkat, after seeing Bro gone, moves his attention to you. You and your pathetic lump on the floor. Karkat kneels down next to you trying to help you to get up. “Dave, I’m so fucking sorry. I should’ve never let that creep into the building. I’m so sorry, are you ok? What’s wrong?” he rushes glancing at your face and almost everywhere else right now. You guys are getting really close and if it weren’t for the fact of you having a panic attack while having a pity party currently on the hallway floor you would’ve found it really hot. “Nothing dude. I’m fine” you lie. Lying is easier than having him find out what a weakling you are. Karkat, still concerned and also very sorry, flutters from on top of you to your side. 

“Dave. I’m sorry. I’m…..fuck!” he says, leaning next to you. As much as you want to be, this isn’t your fault etc, you’re not really in the place right now. You move from him, and head to your bedroom door. You….you just need to breathe. And maybe cry, and not look like such a pansy in front of Karkat. Shoving him away from you, you slam the door with a click, locking it behind you. 

====>

You, Dirk Strider, make your way home from the “library”. You lied about where you were going to be so expertly that not even you bro was suspicious. You managed to translate you bro’s text saying how he won’t be there when you get back and how Karkat will be chilling with you instead. You say translate because "yo Lil dude pasta music kats night love you bye" doesn’t get the point across as clearly as it should. You sigh, rethinking about your meeting with Rose and Kanaya. Oh, yeah, did you forget to mention that? You’re kinda part of a super secret mission to set those two up. That, and like, you love both her Kanaya so much that you don’t mind wasting an afternoon with one another. They’re cute, even if you are 13, but even so. They’re still adorable even after a couple of months. You’re job tonight is making sure that Karkat feels readjusted in your place. That, you’re still not on board with. Why does he have to live with you? You don’t know except that it’s both Dave, Rose, and Kanaya’s fault. After going over the plan you made today with Rose and Kanaya you finally turn your attention to Jake. Currently, he’s walking back to his place with you after the both of you stopped so he could rent Avatar for god knows how many times. He’s been chattering about some hiking trip he went on with his Boy Scout troop for a while now. 

“And we even saw a grizzly bear! He was getting ready for hibernation but it was still so cool to see. Then I and the chums hiked up to the top. We saw a moose, and I wrestled down a fish for dinner. I’m telling you, Dirk, you would love Boy Scouts if you would give it a try!” Jake says. He finishes finally, and you smile at him, because, he gets so adorable when talking about hiking and stuff, but adorable in a strict bros forever way. 

“I’m too busy being cool to join the Dork Club.” you snort at him. 

“Dirk. Do you realize you are on the Robotics Team right? That’s the actual definition of the Dorks Club. Roxy said so. And you’re the only member. At least in my troop, we’re dorks together.” he says gleefully. He moved to the states only after his grandmother died to live with Jane but he still managed to carry his thick heavy British accent with him. He sounds like sunshine and a meadow each time he talks….in a no homo way of course! You blush and punch him in the shoulder. “Also, how are you wearing a tank top in this weather ol’ chap?” Jake asks you quizzically. Now you smirk. 

 

“I’m just that cool,” you say. He stares at you in disbelief and then, wonder. What have you started?

“So, you don’t get cold? Ever? Because you’re that cool?” he calls you out on your bullshit and you roll his eyes at him. And so the harassment begins. The one thing you the most about Jake is how he is the only person in the entire world who gets you. No one in your 13 years has ever gotten your bullshit jokes, intelligent insights, and myriads of moods like Jake. He’s the only one that understands you and you love him for that! Of course in a totally straight two bros platonic way! He drops you off, and you know it’s a wonderful day. Until of course, you walk into the apartment. 

===>

You, Dave Strider, are freaking the fuck out. He’s back. And he knows where you live. And he’s seen the place. And he wants to strife. You get the familiar knot of anxiety forming in your stomach just thinking about strifing your bro. You ignore the bits of memories that flash through your mind and you try and focus on getting your breathing under control. You hate yourself for always getting in this state when you think too much about him, or think too much of your childhood. How hearing a butter knife crashing on the ground reduces you to this tiny ball. You hate it so fucking much but you’re so scared of it. You let the gray waves of indifference try and wash over you, but instead, the little ball of anxiety starts to buzz. It buzzes, and all you can focus on isn’t your breathing, but what happened in the past. It happened in the past why are you dealing with this now! Why can’t you leave it in the past! The ball buzzes even more and moves to your head. You hate it when it does that. It buzzes in your head so loud, and all you can hear are swords clashing, mean words, Dirk crying, you crying, the smuppets, cameras, all of it rushes back now, and the ball moves to your heart. Your heart that starts to beat rapidly, and soon, you’re not only thinking about the past you’re reliving it. You’re reliving every cut, scrape, and bruise. You’re reliving every single mean word, the harsh strifes, the days where you felt so sick and horrible about yourself you wanted to die and he wouldn’t give a single fuck about you. You relive every single time you’ve heard Dirk cry in pain, the moments you were caught running away, you’re reliving everything. Karkat knocks at your door. 

“Look, umm, dude?” he says dude like it’s a foreign word, “I’m sorry and stuff, but I need to know you’re ok in there? Give me some sort of sign. I’m gonna call the place you were supposed to DJ tonight and cancel, but give me a sign dude. Please?” Karkat begs through the door. You throw a book at the door with a groan. You guess he takes that as an answer because you hear him pad away to take care of your responsibility and leave you in your stupid self-loathing pile of pity. You just need to focus on breathing. Just take a deep breathe in. Out. In. Out. Don’t think about the past. Just try and breathe, Dave. Try and breathe.

===>

You, Karkat Vantas, feel absolutely horrible for what went down. You and you alone were responsible for hurting Dave because of your idiocy. Because you believed someone even though they were lying to you. After you check on Dave and make sure he’s somewhat ok, which he most definitely isn’t, you move in the kitchen and towards the home phone. For someone like Dave, who looks and acts like a tiny child, he is surprisingly organized. He has a whiteboard on the fridge where he puts down all your shifts, where Dirk is, and the gigs and time of where he’s supposed to be playing. You dial the number and give the venue the bad news. You do this as Dirk walks back into the apartment. He was surprised as fuck when he hears you tell the club that Dave wasn’t going to make it. 

“Is Dave ok? He never cancels unless I’m sick or something,” he says in disbelief. You turn and face him, racked with guilt and unsure of what to say. At that moment Dave pops out of his room and grins brightly at Dirk. 

“I’m just not feeling it today buddy. C’mon let’s eat!” Dave says and Dirk sure as hell doesn’t buy this stupid act, but he doesn’t say anything. “Karkat, you too dude. Though, we are going to need to talk later about rent and stuff,” he says. You sit awkwardly at the table still hating yourself for letting what happened happened. But you know there’s a reason why Dave hasn’t said anything to Dirk yet. Maybe he’s waiting or something else? You just eat your cold noodles instead, all three of you eating in a chilly silence. You break it of course with your big fucking mouth. 

“So, Dirk. How’s your day?” you start. He doesn’t say much, but you can see the tiniest hint of a grin. “Did you talk to Jake at all today?” you push and he stares at you.

“How the holy---- yes. Yes, I did see Jake today. Also, bro, why the hell are these noodles so cold? They’re freezing.” Dirk complains. Dave looks at you (? shades guys. C’mon you’re trying you’re best to read him ok.) and you both stare at each other before Dave mutters something about a microwave and Dirk goes to warm up the cold spaghetti. Dave faces you cooly, and you relax seeing how he isn’t whispering harshly at you or showing any signs of aggression. He nods after a while and takes another bite of his dinner, and you relax fully now. Even though you and Dave didn’t start off on the right foot, you sure didn’t want him so pissed at you that he couldn’t sit in silence with you when Dirk leaves. Dirk, poor kid stuck in the middle without knowing anything of what went down. You all finish up, and Dave and you take care fo the dishes as Dirk goes to work on some new robot. You can’t tell if he’s just messing with you or not. While washing the dishes, Dave takes this time to actually talk to you instead of coolly looking at you. 

“I’m changing the locks as of today, so tomorrow be prepared to have a new key. And next time you see that man. Ever. Karkat, I’m not shitting you I’m talking a glimpse of his passing face while you’re on the subway, or walking down a busy street and you think you see him turn a corner, run. Run and tell me immediately.” he glares at you now. 

“It wasn’t my place to even bring him here. And trust me when I say, if I see that motherfucker around lurking around I’ll arrest his ass so fucking fast for stalking that the idiot muffin will get whiplash.” You grin at him. He does the same, but he’s still worried. You don’t know what you’ve done, and you’ll be sure to pester Rose about it later but, your thoughts are cut off. 

“Also, I would actually praise you like a god from the heavens. It'd been raining blood and I’ll provide you a sacrifice cause I know you’re cool with the concept of a sacrifice and blood sort of way. And I would totally serve you up a lamb. It’ll be straight from the slaughterhouse and the soul will be nice and delicious for you to eat. And you’ll be like, thank you, faithful servant, as I bow down to you heavenly god and praise the fuck out of you like you were Jesus yourself and I was like one of his disciples----” he stops himself short. “The point being, please don’t tell anyone what happened today. Especially Dirk, he’s….sensitive when it comes to Bro and no one needs to think about it right now,” he says quietly peeking to make sure Dirk wasn’t listening from his bedroom. You nod again, and Dave nods at you. “You’re a pretty cool bro when you aren’t angry, do you know that?” Dave says after a moment. No, you did not know that, but you shrug along anyways. You both finish with the dishes, Dave runs you down on rent, grocery shopping, etc Until it’s late. Like midnight late. Dave goes to put Dirk to bed because “That child will stay up all night building software programs and robots if he could.” Dave’s words. Does Dirk actually build robots? You actually can’t tell, and, at this point, you just accept it. You both call it a night, and head to bed. You’re still feeling god awful shitty about today when you hear Dave knock on your door. (If you don’t think you haven’t already memorized the way they walk from a distance so you know exactly who it is when they come up to your door than you are sorely mistaken.) “I, uh forgot to give this to you earlier. It was just on our doorstep. I didn’t open it or anything, I just forgot to give it to you. And, uh…” he trails off while handing you the envelope. You narrow your eyes, and glare at him. It’s almost 1 and you have another shift tomorrow morning. “Uh, sorry for freaking out earlier. You didn’t have to see that, and it was, uh, immature of me to react that way.” Dave says, and you feel your heart tell you to say something comforting while your brain screams at you to do otherwise.   
“It’s fine Dave. Really. If anything that entire ordeal was my fault so don’t try and blame yourself.” you end up listening to your heart again. Why is that fucker making all decisions again? Did it go and murder your brain putting your emotions and feeling in hyperdrive of any and all decisions and actions of your future? You sigh and make some room on your bed. “Honestly, do you wanna hang out for a bit, I have a couple of movies downloaded on my laptop if you’re willing?” you offer. Argh!!!! What is going on? Why are you offering for him to watch a movie with you!   
“I’ll have to take up that offer some other time. But you should really get some sleep Vantas.” he nods to you and leaves you alone in your room. Why did he look so hot when peering in through the door sheepishly handing you the letter? Why was he just adorable grinning at you earlier even though it’s fake? Why did it hurt that he said no? You spend about another 25 minutes thinking about Dave and how cute he is and about all of his behaviors until you decide to distract yourself. You pull up one of your favorite romantic movies, Hitch and spending almost two hours watching one of the greatest love stories of all time unfold before your eyes, as you mouth every line of the movie. By the time you’re actually done, it’s fuck o’clock where everyone and everything should be sleeping but you and your insomniac ass are still up. Well, no is as good as any to open up the letter.   
To be honest, you were kind of excited when you first got the letter, a childlike glee of getting something other than shitty coupons and bills. But then, then you were faced with something so horrendously horrible that you contemplate whether or not you could just jump off Dave’s balcony. You open it up and you can feel the color leaving your face. The letter leaves you shaking, your hands shaking so badly that you practically crumple the letter. It’s from the rest of the crew, the rest of the Midnight Crew. It reads:

YOU MAY HAVE GOTTEN TO OUR LEADER, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN HE WILL NOT BE AVENGED. WE’RE COMING.   
~MIDNIGHT CREW

It hits you then that you only got Jack Noir in the bust. You only got one out of all of them. You feel the panic rise up inside of you because they know! Someone must have been tailing you! You moved out of your apartment, you got into this one. Someone knows your relationship with Dave, and in turn, your relationship with Kanaya. They know where you are at, who to target, and how to fuck with you. And it worked.

====>

You, Dave Strider, lay wide awake going over the events of today in your mind. The main mistake of declining Karkat’s offer of watching a movie specifically. Watching a movie would’ve distracted you and your horrible imagination. Now you’re up thinking about Bro and how shitty he is, Dirk and how moody he is, and Karkat and how to hurt he was when you declined. Karkat shouldn’t even be on the list of things to worry about, but you still find yourself fussing over him. How he held his own against Bro, glaring that motherfucker down afraid of nothing. You shake your head trying to focus on more pressing matters of how Bro found your place or how Dirk is adjusting, but the image of Karkat going, “NYPD! Let go of Dave. Immediately.” was probably the hottest thing to have ever happened to you. You roll over and try to fall asleep without thinking of Karkat because you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow. 

A few hours later you hear clashes and bangs coming from Karkat’s room. They only seem to increase the more you try to ignore it, so you guess, good morning world. Time to deal with a seriously angry cop. You get up still exhausted from what happened before and waddle your half awake ass across the room and into Karkat’s. The bangs and clashes get really loud until you a very angry, “FUCK!” from Karkat himself. “You ok fam?” you knock on his door before opening it and going in. You find Karkat half sprawled across the floor and bed, the papers that were in his hand flying everywhere, and an extremely angry Karkat. His room is a disaster, completely opposite of the neat clean room you left him with a couple hours earlier. Not only are papers flying, but clothes are strewn across the floor, he stabbed his mattress open letting the innards of his prey fly wildly about with the fan and papers, and the closet in his room is on its side drawers wide open, everything was taken out and thrown around the room. You are now concerned that Rose has given you some sort of sociopathic cop for a roommate. One with serious anger issues. 

“No! I need your help though!” he says, glaring at you. You walk over and help him up and start picking up some of the papers. “Does your place have any surveillance cameras inside or outside the apartment building?” he asks, picking up the rest of the papers. You shake your head. “Fuck!” he says louder this time. You wince at the volume and now it’s your turn to glare at him...even though he can’t see it. 

“Look, dude, it’s probably been a long day at the police force. You dealt with one too many high people or you didn’t get the last doughnut or some shit like that. But, I’m going to ask you to keep the swearing to a minimum or at least the noise level. Cause like, Dirk is still sleeping and so are the neighbors below you and it’s fuck o’clock in the morning. I’m just asking for some respect for Dirk and myself and stuff….are you even listening?” you glance at Karkat who is pacing around the room. He stops and looks at you, closely, getting up and close to your face.

“Hmm-mm, yeah something about Dirk,” he says still being absurdly close to your face. 

“Wow, look at you Mr. Specific. Listen up! A, look at me and not at my lips and B, can actually listen to me dude. I get my lips are totally kissable and super full and shit but it’s getting a bit uncomfortable,” you ask him, and he blushes facing away from you. 

“I don’t know what you two are doing but the more I listen to this conversation the more concerned I’m getting,” Dirk calls out, and Karkat looks around panicked. 

“Where’s Dirk? Did you leave him alone!” Karkat screams practically bolting out of his room. Two seconds later he’s dragging Dirk into his room, peeking his head out, then closing the door behind him and locking it. 

“Not suspicious at all. Dude, are you ok?” you ask genuinely concerned now. “Damn, must’ve been some doughnut to have gotten you all worked up. Or my totally Maybelline model looking lips right now.” you half joke. Hey, you know you could be a model if you put your mind to it, plus look at you. You’re beautiful. 

“It wasn’t a fucking doughnut or your...argh! Never mind! Where’s Dirk? Is he alone?” he changes the topic ignoring your question. Karkat seemed to be more wound up and tense than he was when you left him. So tense that he forgot he dragged Dirk in here already, and is looking around panicked and lost. 

“Whoa. What the fuck?” Dirk stands in the middle of Karkat’s mess, and Karkat focuses his attention back to the both of you. 

“Were any of you followed today? Dirk, did you see anyone suspicious people follow you here? Dave?” he asks, breathing raggedly. You both are too shocked to answer his questions and he rolls his eyes at you. 

“Rose and Kanaya weren’t joking when they said that you had a couple of issues dude,” you managed to squeak out. When you say their names his eyes go wide and he yanks out his phone to call them. You and Dirk share the same concerned look as Karkat angrily tries to explain to Kanaya what’s going on. You can hear her rapidly talking to Karkat trying to get him to calm down and clearly isn’t working. You take a step back towards the door hoping to make a run for it but he raises a single finger at you telling you to wait. You sigh and Dirk looks around amazed at the destruction a tiny man managed to do. Karkat after a bit hands you his phone. 

“She says she wants to talk to you,” he says, clearly upset. You take it, while still checking on Dirk and the mess that Karkat has created. 

“Dave, what on earth is going on over there? Karkat is telling me about a mistake he made and trust issues and something about a note? Did you do something?” Kanaya asks, half slurring because it is god knows what time right now. You feel a bit bad for doing this but in all honesty, you all have the same goal. Trying to go back to sleep. 

“I’m as lost as you are...wait! I gave him a note earlier. It was on the doorstep, is this is what he’s freaking over about? Cause I swear it wasn’t me or a prank or anything.” you deny and Kanaya gives a tired sigh. She asks to talk to Karkat and does so for about 5 minutes before Karkat relaxes a little bit. He hangs up and faces the both of you.

“Sorry about my little, um panic episode tonight,” he starts and Dirk laughs. 

“Dude. That was the coolest thing to see unfold all year. You’re so totally cool in my books.” he says still laughing but Karkat’s face turns grim. 

“I had to make sure the room wasn’t bugged. I’m sorry. I’ll pay for a new mattress.” Karkat says looking at the both of you still very serious. Goddammit. Now you want a doughnut even though it has nothing to do with the situation. “Guys, this is very serious. Dave, do you remember the bust I did, well, some of the guys got away.” Karkat explains.

“You mean the big bust where you arrested my sweet ass for making good tunes. Hell yeah, it’s what got us here in the first place.” You complain. He looks at you, and you can tell he’s feeling so guilty and lost right now that it makes you shut up. Dirk sits quietly waiting for Karkat to continue. 

“Well, some of the guys got away. They sent me this,” he hands over the letter you gave him, “today. I just don’t want to drag you guys into something unnecessary so---” he starts but you interrupt. 

“Damn, Vantas. You piss off everyone you meet. I think that this is a cool problem and all, local gang after you and stuff, but it’s also an easy problem to fix in the morning. Dirk, would you agree?” you ask as he nods his head enthusiastically. 

“Oh my god. You’re a target for a local gang. Are you serious? That’s the coolest thing ever. You totally have to tell me everything that has happened in full detail later.” Dirk says. 

“Vantas. We are going to be fine. I’m changing locks tomorrow anyways. I’ll just pick up some security cameras on the way. Ok? So, let’s all go to sleep, and stop throwing temper tantrums over not getting the last doughnut or how totally kissable my lips are and call it a night.” you say, unlocking the door and heading to bed Dirk following in tail. You leave Karkat alone with his mess, something else to worry about at a reasonable hour. But for now, all you want to do is ignore all your problems and sleep.

===>

You, Karkat Vantas, stand surrounded by the chaos of your room which you destroyed in your panicked mania of finding the bug in your room. The non-existent one you mean. Never have you felt so happy about being able to stay. And it confuses you why you’re happy. You clean up the mess as quietly as you can, so essentially, like a fucking cat. You’re that fucking quiet, it’s surprising you know and try and get some sleep. But your anxiety keeps you awake. It whispers how you’re putting everyone in the house in danger by sleeping. You panic again and resolve to go over all entrances and exits of the apartment. You lock all the windows, plan on replacing them with bulletproof glass, and spend the rest of the night/morning on watch. Seeing if anyone or anything dare to enter this house. Cause for the strangest reason, that you’re still so unsure of. One you know to pick apart later when you’re going to try and fall asleep, but once you’re confident in and willing to say proudly. You stare at the door, daring anything or anyone to try and break in knowing that you’ll protect your home with everything you’ve got.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so very sorry I posted this like three weeks later than I said I would. When I went on vacay with my family, my cousins broke in and lost the chapter. So when I retyped it, it wouldn't let me upload it to AO3, so I retyped it and here we are. Please do forgive me, and I'll try and update sooner. But, as a heads up, with school starting up, the updates may be a tad bit more sporadic. I wish you all luck this year with school, and I hope you all try your best and have fun! ^x^


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three words, coffee shop shenanigans!!!

You, Karkat Vantas, head into another thrilling day of work, as you finish off the rest of the sludge you made this morning called coffee. You can practically chew it, perfect. You sit at your desk looking at the amount of paperwork you have yet to file from your bust. The paperwork you’ve had on your desk for about three days now. Damn, it’s only been three days and so much shit has already happened to you. You sigh, take a set, and finish chewing the rest of your coffee. You’re exhausted, but you know you can’t sleep. You have to focus on the whole stalky-getting threatened to be murder by the Midnight Crew thing, and you grab a nice stack of folders to start. As you mindlessly log in people’s names and what they did, you try and think about the Crew. You try and think about getting cameras or replacing windows, but you can’t. Instead, you think about your idiotic feelings of home and Dave. You try to recreate those feelings into something along the lines of ensuring everyone’s safety, but stupid Dave and his stupid face keep popping back up instead. You think about the grin he had on his face when he left your room last night. Or the ever so frustrating practiced neutral face of his that he throws at you constantly to get you riled up. You also think about how hurt you felt when he declined your movie offer, or how swooning hot he got when he was pissed. You aren’t even doing paperwork anymore, you’re just thinking about Dave. You feel a slight blush rise up on your cheeks as you turn your attention back to the paperwork in front of you. Kanaya gracefully slides in her desk in front of you, fashionably late as always, takes a bit from the pile, and starts to help you even though you said you would take care of it. Isn’t she the best?

“Karkat, you look like shit this morning. And I hate to use such foul language but it’s true,” she tells you. Those are the first words she tells you this morning and you want to groan into your cup of sludgy coffee. 

“Thank you for helping me out Kanaya. Also good morning to you too,” you say sarcastically. Without looking at you, she frowns and continues speaking. 

“Did you get any sleep last night? I know it must’ve scared you to find that note.” she starts and you glare at her. 

“I was not scared of a stupid fucking note Kanaya!” you retort. She frowns even more now. 

“Still didn’t answer the question Karkat. I know when you’re sleep deprived by now, more so than usual,” she adds before you could mention how you’re always sleep deprived. You pout, not saying anything. “I’ll take your silence as a no then?” she asks even though she already knows the answer. As much as this conversation is pissing you off, at least now you aren’t thinking about Dave anymore. Shit, you’re doing it again. You ignore your rising thoughts about the stupid DJ and continue with the conversation. 

“Whether or not I go sleep is hardly an issue. Today I’m planting cameras around the apartment but I haven’t found a place that will give me bulletproof glass yet. Can you believe that Dave’s place has no security cameras! It’s like, sure, why not have someone break in and not know who they are because you don’t have any security cameras, right?” you say. Kanaya laughs.

“I know for a fact that you’re the only one in the entire world who thinks that, Karkat.”

“But that’s not even the worse part. If you’re out playing music all night and you’re leaving your kid home, wouldn’t you want some security measures put in place? How trusting is he!” you complain. Now Kanaya smirks at you. “Don’t you even smirk Kanaya. That’s all he does. He has three modes from what I’ve seen. Neutral, which is infuriating as hell, smirk, which is also infuriating as hell, and pissed, which is kind of hot!” you shout. The precinct looks at you now and Kanaya smiles. What. Just. Happened! Did you just say that Dave Strider looked hot when he’s pissed in front of your entire precinct? Now you angrily veer away from them, pretending like nothing happened, and do your paperwork. 

“Sounds like you’re having a blast only after one day. Also, what did you do to make him ‘pissed’? From what Rose has told me, he doesn’t get angry often.” she asks. Shit. You forgot you weren’t supposed to mention Bro. Within the split second, she gives you to respond you come up with a truly remarkable and believable lie. 

“Pfft. Nothing!” 

“Karkat.”

“I’m telling you. I did nothing.” you aren’t technically lying to her. You think about Bro and how creepy and shitty he is. To actually spit on your brother! He’s lucky Dave stopped you before you kicked his ass in the name of fucking justice. 

“Karkat!” you snap back into focus. Kanaya smiles at you again. “I guess Dave has gotten your attention, huh?” she says. You sputter, blushing, and say nothing again, definitely giving her the wrong idea. You instead, change the topic of the conversation. 

“Kanaya, as thrilling as my roommate is not, can we please get back to the task on hand?” you plead. She stops and faces you as you pull out the note you got yesterday. She looks it over as the color washes out from her face. “The most concerning part is that they placed in front of Dave’s place. I mean my new place. Which means there’s either a bug somewhere, a bad cop who heard the deal, or both.” you list out. Kanaya presses her lips into a thin line and sighs. 

“Karkat. This is serious. You should report it. I don’t think bulletproof glass and cameras are going to help. And for once, for once in my entire life, I think you’re paranoia is onto something.” she says. Yes, that’s exactly what you wanted to hear. That you’re right---wait. 

“Kanaya. I’m not paranoid.”

“And how did you react when you got this note?”

“I went looking for the bug in my room with Dirk and Dave.”

“And what did you find?”

“Uh…….nothing so far. But that doesn’t mean----”

“And did you go to sleep at all last night?”

“No.”

“Why?” 

“None of your business!”

 

“You just proved my point. Karkat,” she gives you full eye contact telling you that she’s dead serious, “you need to report this in. Given your history with stalking this isn’t going to end well. Go and tell the Captain immediately.”

“Go and tell the Captain what?” a voice says behind you. Luckily it isn’t Captain Peixes, but unluckily, it’s Lieutenant Ampora. Eridan Ampora is one of the worst Lientaunts you’ve ever had the worst luck of meeting, and worst of all: he’s a tattletale. “You guys better tell me what’s going on immediately,” he says snobbily. It takes every fiber in your body to restrain yourself from punching him in the nose just for talking. Kanaya hands him the note which he marches straight into Captain Peixes’ office. You both watch to see her reaction, which she gives to you promptly. She marches straight out of her office and slams the note on your desk. Why is Eridan in your life again! 

“Vantas. My office. Now!” she says, and you glare at Eridan who snobbily smiles at you, the jerk, as you follow Captain Peixes into her office. 

===>

You, Dave Strider, have the day off to chill and relax. Even though you canceled at a venue last night, you’re scheduled for another cool night of mixing tomorrow. And you couldn’t be happier. You are currently chilling in a cafe, drinking a tall nonfat caramel latte, after Googling what is the most basic drink in cafes. Jade, the owner, pops up next to you and takes a seat. She smiles brightly, as usual, and starts to pester (haha, you know….like the app where guys first met) you about Karkat. 

“What’s he like?”

“Angry,” you say. 

“Is he cute?”

“Ehh.” you give a so-so motion even though you’re lying. 

“Does he like living there?” you shrug a response. “Ok, was it a hassle moving in?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because the dude only had one box.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why?” 

“Jesus Jade. I don’t know! It’s only been one day.” you throw your hands up when you say this and take a sip of your drink.

“Is he as angry as Rose and Kanaya say he is?” 

“Hold up! Did everyone meet Kanaya except for me! Cause I had no clue Rose was dating, let alone had a girlfriend up until this point. Also, were you in on this plan of having him live with me? Jade. Jade! You can’t just walk away when the questions get too real!” she slides out of the seat and pretends to take orders instead of answering your questions. God. You get back to the sole reason why you’re there. To draw, get a free drink, and get a break from everything for a while. Dirk doesn’t get out for a solid hour or so, but even still he has a Robotic Team meeting today so that will get you another 2 hours before you have to head back. You already bugged Rose all morning about why she never told you about Kanaya until she kicked you out of her office. Then, you went to meet up with the lock guy, who was kinda cool and sweet with the fatherly stories of his twins. You like the lock guy. He’s always so happy. Now, you’re here. Just chilling and trying to glimpse of the cute cop that’s now living with you. Wait, you mean, the angry cop who’s living with you. Whatever Dave, stop being so gay. The thought sends a shiver down your spine, and you whip out your phone. After yesterday’s events, you schedule another therapy appointment for yourself because you’re not going down that hole again. Where you believed the one you loved is wrong, or that you’re weak. You try and convince yourself otherwise but you know that yesterday showed how weak you truly are. You bite your lip and scratch your left arm. It’s a horrible habit you picked up somehow and you stop yourself. Instead of feeling bad, you need to think of the reason why Bro would all of a sudden pop back into your life. It’s been years since the courthouse trial since you’ve moved to New York since you’ve started your new life with Dirk. He said he wanted Dirk, but after all these years, but you know there’s something else. It itches at you as you itch at your arm. You’re spacing out so badly, that you don’t even see Karkat until he’s right in front of you. 

===>

You, Officer Vantas, stop by the nearest coffee shop during your break and find Dave Strider. Weird? You’ve never seen him here before, but now you’re kinda worried about him. His head is hanging, and he’s scratching his left arm like crazy. You get your order and walk up to him, checking to see if he’s ok. He looks up (??? fucking shades!) at you. 

“Dave?”

“Sup Kit-Kat,” he answers perfectly, face set in the neutral mode right now. You slide in the seat in front of him, a bit happy he’s here. 

“Fuck off that’s not my fucking name.” that happiness disappeared the moment he said that horrible nickname.

“You don’t do nicknames Karkles?” 

“No, cause why the fuck would I? God gave me a name and I’m going to keep it. Nicknames are shitty anyways and are so fucking stupid. It’s like, ok my name can be a mouthful for some people, but just because you can’t say it doesn’t mean I have to conform to your idiocy.” you complain. 

“Ok Kitkart, what I got from that is instead of thinking nicknames are normal and kinda cute depending on whom you use it on, you think that they’re horrible. Right Crab-crab?” he smirks the tiniest bit when he says this and you roll your eyes again. 

“Whatever douchebag. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about yesterday,” you say, not looking him in the eye. You’re worried he might shut you out but you know you can help. He stiffens and takes a sip of his now empty cup. You keep a chuckle to yourself when you see him just awkwardly put it down and clear his throat. 

“Yeah, ok,” he says instead, going back to perfect neutral.

“It’s nothing big, but I was wondering if you wanted to get a restraining order? So next time that fucker dare to show his sorry excuse of an ass over our place I have grounds to arrest him. I will help you out but only if you’re comfortable with it.” you ask him, and he takes another long sip of his nonexistent drink. You chuckle at him now, and he sets the cup down. 

“Sure. But I don’t want to make too big of a deal out of this. You know, maybe keep it on the DL. Meaning your partner, or my fucking sister’s secret girlfriend can know. Like, no one can know.” he says again, quieter. You nod, and he goes back to doodling on his napkin. Wow….that went, surprisingly well. He glances at you and smirks again. After this week, you’re making it your life mission to take those fucking shades off of every Strider you can find. You take another sip of your coffee thanking whatever mortal or immortal being created such a life-bearing drink. You hear a slight chuckle and look up to glare at Dave...for the fucking chuckle. 

“It’s just...you look like you wanna marry your cup of coffee dude. I mean, that’s the most pleasant I’ve ever fucking seen you. You look like you’re about to profess your love to it, going down on one knee saying that you’re ready for the commitment and everything.” he explains and you do your best glare at him. 

“All I was doing was taking a sip of one of the best drinks that Jesus has ever blessed this godforsaken world with. So, forgive me if I am actually mildly pleased when drinking this holy cup of life.” you snap. 

“Now I know you’re playing. The best drink God or Jesus or whatever has blessed the human race with is apple juice,” he tells you, straight-faced. 

“Coffee has given has rejuvenated me. I feel at peace while drinking it. You cannot compare the best thing to have ever graced my mouth with the vile substance of apple juice. If anything God is trying to rub our sin more in our face by having humans drink that. But not coffee. Coffee has always been there for me during the hard times. It’s been there during the sleepless nights or hard mornings. Fuck apple juice, it doesn’t do anything when you’re feeling shitty. All it does is leave a weird fucking taste in your mouth for days. Days, Dave! It leaves that weird aftertaste which makes me want to hurl myself on the nearest highway I can find since it tastes so gross. Coffee though, it’s the opposite of apple juice. Coffee doesn’t taste shitty. It tastes like love. It tastes like home. It tastes like my only reason for still living here even when it feels like the entire world is working against me, Dave. It got me through the hard days and the good ones. It brought my friends and me closer by finishing a project last minute. Coffee got me through all the training I needed to do to become a police officer in the first place. It tastes like everything I have ever done or ever will do. It tastes like the human potential in a tiny cup because of how miraculous coffee is on me and my brain, Dave. So don’t ever, and I’m talking fucking ever, try and diss coffee again.” you finish your rant beautifully as always with an audience giving you the best appreciative glances, especially in a coffee shop filled with sleep-deprived students. No one claps though. Damn. 

===>

You, Dave Strider, tried your hardest to stifle your laughter. You did your best to hide your smile, as Karkat ranted to you. He got so into it, he actually stood up in the middle of his speech and stood on the table. If the whole cop thing doesn’t work, he could always become some advertising guy for Starbucks or something. He finally finishes, holding his cup of coffee to the light like Arthur probably did with Excalibur. His face is red from the yelling, and the fact that he said almost all of his speech in one breath. You just couldn’t keep it in. But in all honesty, anyone would have laughed watching Karkat actually profess his love for coffee in a solid five-minute rant. And you were making a joke about your apple juice. (Actually, you weren’t. You love apple juice, but clearly, clearly, not as much as Karkat loves coffee.) You did your best to hide your amusement, especially since Karkat is dead serious about loving coffee until he dies. But, unfortunately for you, you couldn’t. You couldn’t keep in the laughter, and after Karkat finishes his speech, he has the attention of everyone in the coffee shop, including Jade. She giggles while handing a customer their cup, and walks over to the two of you. Karkat glares so harshly at you, it causes you to laugh harder. You’re laughing so hard your sides hurt and Karkat continues to sip his coffee as Jade finally makes it over to your table. 

“I’m dead fucking serious douchebag. I have no fucking clue why you’re laughing so hard. This isn't a chuckling matter. This is my life.” he huffs out angrily. This, again, causes you to laugh harder. Jade sets another cup of coffee down in front of Karkat and begins to start talking to him. 

“I had no clue you felt that way Karkat. I’m Jade, by the way, the owner of this cafe.” she introduces herself. If there is one thing you respect the most about Jade, is that she remembers the name and order of almost every customer here. Even if they don’t know Jade, Jade knows them. Karkat cautiously takes the cup of coffee, taking a sip, and smiling. 

“This is an extremely light roast. And it has such a nice flavor too,” he comments. After his careful sip, he downs the rest down like a shot and flashes a rare smile. Jade grins at you and then turns to face him again. 

“You know your coffees huh?”

“No shit, were you not here for my speech I just gave like five seconds ago?” he says eyeing her suspiciously. You kick him in the shin and glare at him too. “OW! What the fuck Dave! I didn’t even do anything! Why are you looking at me like that anyways!” he yells. You continue to glare at him hoping he gets the point. “I can’t tell anything with those fucking shades on, bastard.” he hisses at you. Oh. Yeah. Fuck. You forgot about that. 

“Dave! Did you just kick him!”

“You know I did, sweetheart. He’s looking at you like you’re about to stab him or something,” you say. Jade raises an eyebrow but says nothing else. 

“Forgive me for being a tiny bit suspicious. There is a reason why you just came and handed me a free coffee and I don’t trust your motives.” Karkat says. At least he’s always honest about his suspicions. Jade looks sheepishly at him. 

“You’re right. I just wanted to thank you for being Dave’s friend. As one of his friends I understand how he can be…” she looks at you while trying to find the right word.

“Hot? Cool? Adorable? Sweet? Dashing? Handsome? Totally fuckable?” you try. 

“Frustrating. Not to say any of us don’t also have our faults, but he can be extremely frustrating sometimes,” she says. “Plus, any friend of Dave is a friend of mine. Coffee on the house from now on.” 

“Deal!” Karkat excitedly stands up and shakes her hand. What are you chopped liver over here? You try and tell Jade what the fuck she’s doing but she doesn’t look over your direction. 

“We’re not even friends,” you tell Karkat.

“For free coffee, we’ve been fucking married for three years and thinking about adopting for all I care,” he says. “You just lost a shit ton of money Jade,” he tells her honestly. Damn, what you see is what you get with him, you guess. 

“Well, Mr, Vantas, it’s not every day you have someone stand up on a table confessing their love to coffee.” she laughs, “On top of that you’re such a loyal customer and are such great friends with my friends.” she smiles again. Damn, you have no clue why she’s laying on the sweetness today when she was being such a little shit earlier. You should ask her. 

“Why are you being so nice when you were such a little shit earlier Jade?” you ask her straight-faced. She faces you, and you can read the annoyance on her face from a mile away. 

“Well, if you must ask Dave, I actually like Karkat. He seems like a good person. An unselfish, completely humble, gentleman. The first I’ve ever met next to my brother of course. The rest of my guy friends can act like complete jerks.” she says, doing her signature Jade move of moving away while giving the burn so you can’t reply. Karkat laughs when she says this too, and it's honestly one of the best sounds you’ve ever heard. You ignore your heart as you turn and glare again at Karkat. 

“What? She has a point. You are very frustrating.” 

“And you’re not?” you shoot back. He glares at you now, but even now you can tell that it’s harmless. He flicks his cup at you and you stick your tongue out at him. 

“Whatever. At least I get free coffee now,” he says triumphantly. 

“You shouldn’t be throwing yourself in random deals like that, Jesus I’m concerned.b You’re going to end up like a male stripper one day for fucking coffee.” you shoot. He rolls his eyes at you and glances at his phones. 

“Oh, shit. I have to go back,” he says as grabs his things. You might as well go and draw in the park while you’re at it. It’s closer to pick up Dirk from the library and totally not because it’s on the way to Karkat’s precinct. He clearly notices you doing this but doesn’t anything. You both wave goodbye to Jade and head out. It’s a fucking nice day, and you’re feeling pretty good right now. 

===>

You, Karkat Vantas, are actually surprised with how the day turned out so far. Dave Strider hasn’t pissed you off, and he’s actually a kinda nice person to talk too when he’s not being stoic as hell. You relax a bit, and begin your walk to your work. You don’t want to admit it out loud, but you’re kind of jealous of Dave’s schedule. He actually has time to do what he enjoys even if he’s bored as fuck right now. He’s even walking with your back, under the guise of “going to the park”, but you can smell his bullshit from here. You don’t really care though, because it’s actually nice to talk with someone. You haven’t really felt this with anyone except with Kanaya so it shocks you that you feel this comfortable with Dave. But you trust your gut and you know your judge of character is flawless. He must be a good person if you’re already this comfortable with him. You’re both chattering over something stupid like who has a better taste in comics when someone bumps into you. This man is huge, bigger than you’ve ever seen anyone in your life as a short person. He knocks into you without saying a word, dressed in a trenchcoat, and a fedora hat pulled low over his head. One outfit you recognize quite clearly, one from the Midnight Crew. You panic, trying to move Dave away, grab your gun, do something to make the arrest, but before you can do anything he’s gone. And you feel a blinding white pain from your side and fall to the ground. 

===>

You, Dave Strider, have no fucking clue what the fuck just happened. You and Karkat were only moments ago arguing what kind of comics are the best, (The fucker thinks webcomics are better than actual comics) when you see him crumple to the ground. Only seconds before did you hear the loud cracks of electricity and then, a few heartbeats later he falls to the ground. It takes another second for you put the dots together. He tried to push you away and choked a couple of words out before falling down to the ground. You catch him trying to find the wound, but he convulses in your arms instead, white foam forming in his mouth. You turn around to see if you can find the assailant, but the people surrounding you to see if you’re ok etc block your view. Holding Karkat, you call 911, glancing at the wound. It’s a bad burn mark, blood oozes out of the burnt skin, and your stomach turns. You tell the operator what’s going on and where you are, and Karkat doesn’t move. He only breathes. Quite weakly too, but at least he’s breathing. You’re worried and don’t know what to do. You shoo away the people around you and the ambulance comes. Thank god. He’s going to be all right. He has to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it took so long for this chapter to come out. School has been ridiculous as usual but I have a feeling this is going to be a good year. Anyways, I would like to thank @Kuroitora_chan for their comment! It really inspired me and got me really pumped to write this chapter. Please feel free to leave any comments on things I need to improve on! Thank you! ^x^


	6. Chapter 6

You, Kanaya Maryam, lay in hiding, watching your partner from afar. He promised you multiple times that he will be safe, but you still don’t know. You know he’ll risk himself to get the job done in the end. How he managed to call their pattern of work surprises you the most. The plan was simple, watch out for him. After getting the note, the rest of the crew was bound to do a form of harassment to mess with him some more. “Knowing those fuckers, they want me scared. They will try and freak me out by doing some more shit. They know my schedule, so most likely they might get me when I go on my coffee break.” As much as the Captain gives Karkat shit for doing his job incorrectly, but not even she could deny it. He’s good at stuff like this. You do your best to ignore your worries and follow the big guy who bumped into him. You recognize that uniform. Fedora and trench coat, meaning only one thing: Midnight Crew. You stalk him, for about half a block or so, waiting for the foot traffic to be a bit less busy, and get ready for your attack. He has no clue what’s going to happen, and you can see him talking on the phone. Finally, the time is right, and you draw your gun. “NYPD don’t move.” you have the gun to the back of his head. Even though you’re in public, and you usually aren’t one to draw this much attention to yourself, you also know that this man is dangerous. “Hands out of your pockets, slowly,” you bark. You know he has something up his sleeve. He’s too tense, his movements are too robotic. He will try and knock the gun out of your hand in three, two, BAM. He spins around, trying to push your arm away, moving quickly. But you're quicker. You slide underneath him, so while he’s turned around, you’ll be right in front of him. When he does face you, it’s in confusion, so you have the element of surprise. You punch hard and quick in the face, slide to his side, jump up, and elbow him in the neck. He goes down without any other issue, and you grab you cuffs. “Hearts Boxcar, you’re under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used you against the court of law.” you're proud. Really proud. This is one huge guy, and because of your partner and yourself, you managed to catch this one. That is one less crew member down for the count, but with every victory comes a cost. The rest know you aren’t playing anymore. And they will fight back. Hard. 

===>

You, Dave Strider, are worried about Karkat Vantas. He was ok when the ambulance came, but now you're worried for him. He’s tiny, and you aren't sure how many volts he was given. Enough to make him unconscious is the most obvious amount. You didn’t think about why Karkat was so freaked out when he got the letter until now. These people really want to hurt him and make his life miserable. You left Karkat in the ambulance, jogged down into the police precinct, and tried to find Kanaya. Instead, you’re met with some random officers, but the Captain sees you and waves you in. 

“Hi, Dave! I was just about to call Karkat. But I had a feeling he was with you. Did everything go as planned?” she smiles at you, and you’re just so confused. You only manage to shake your head. She frowns instantly, one of the scariest sights a person could ever imagine, and asks, “Well, what went wrong? Why are you shaking your head? Where is Karkat anyways?” It’s then Kanaya walks in with the huge guy who bumped into Karkat only moments before he fell to the ground. You ignore your rage and get the words out of your mouth. 

“Karkat’s been electrocuted, so he’s at the hospital.” 

===>

You, Karkat Vantas, wake up to the smell of cleaning products and sickness. You look around, confused, to see what’s going on, where you are, who the fuck is around you, and why the fuck you’re somewhere else. It takes only a couple of seconds for you to be grounded and remember what the fuck happened to you. Your side burns and itches at the same time and you sigh. Great. Another great fucking day. You know that you should relax or do something like that, but you’re angry. Your stomach burns red hot, as you swing your feet over the hospital bed, and stand up. It hurts, but nothing hurts more than being publicly attacked on the street after having years of combat training. And in front of Dave! Really! Couldn’t they have attacked you when you weren’t having a nice day with your crush? Did you just say crush? Dave? Ew, no. Grabbing your clothes, which were conveniently placed on the chair next to your bed, you yank them on and head to the main office ignoring the searing pain on your side. It isn’t like you’ve been stabbed, so you’re fine. It right about then when Dave rushes in.

===>

Usually, you, Dave Strider, are always composed. Stoic face, cool shades, and an indifferent attitude. But when you heard the plan that Karkat set into motion, and the bruises Kanaya gave the dude who fucking shocked him, you wouldn’t be lying when you said you lost it a little bit. And by a little bit, you mean a lot. Kanaya throws the dude in a nearby cell and makes her way over to you. Captain Peixes is still confused from what you just said, but their words don’t really seem to make it to your ears. Then in front of you, Bro walks in. What the ever-loving hell is even going on today! You’re surprised, and he is, well stoic. You catch each other's eyes from across the room, him frowning, you shocked. He walks out of the precinct the moment he saw you, leaving you more confused than you were. 

“Dave?” Kanaya waves a hand in front of your face, but you ignore it. What is he even doing here? Why this precinct? Why New York? You feel yourself beginning to spiral and panic, but you calm yourself down. You need to. Karkat was willing to help you with your issues, so you need to be willing to help him with his.

“Where’s Karkat Mr. Strider? Do not make me detain you for interfering with an investigation,” Captain Peixes glares at you. You snap back into reality and try to and solve one thing at a time. The Bro thing can wait, you must talk now. 

“We were walking back here when that dude,” you point at the giant man, “fucking electrocuted him. I left him in an ambulance because he was unconscious and came down here.” 

“Is he alright? What did the emergency people even say?” Kanaya furrows her brows, clearly worried. 

“He’s fine, I think. They said they had no clue why he passed out, but that they would keep him there for a bit and check on him,” all of this is really confusing. Your head spins a bit, but you focus on your breathing to calm down. Kanaya and Captain Peixes seem to argue what to do next, leaving you out of the loop and to fend for yourself. Kanaya looks annoyed that the Captain won't let her go see Karkat, and the Captain herself looks confused on what to do next. “What do I need to do?” you ask, looking Kanaya straight in the eye. She sighs and relaxes.

“You need to go over to the hospital, and just be with Karkat. Obviously, they don’t see you as a threat, seeing how they only shocked him didn’t touch you, and that you will be safe,” she says. You nod, grab your stuff, and head out the door as Kanaya takes care of the big dude. You’re still concerned about seeing your Bro, but maybe Karkat can do something about it. He said he could. It takes you about 15 minutes to get to the hospital that Karkat is staying at, and the moment you get in, you see him. He’s standing up, completely fine, and doing the one thing he knows how to do best. About to start an argument with the head nurse completely pissed off. 

===>

You, Karkat Vantas, stare at Dave for about four seconds before he moves. He strides over (Fuck no, that wasn’t a fucking pun!) and says to the head Nurse, “How long does he have to stay?” he says calmly, completing ignoring you. 

“What the fuck! I’m fine, I just want to leave!”

“In just a minute Mr. Vantas. I need to pull up your file.” the Nurse says, rolling her eyes at you. Dave just stares at you, at least you think. You roll your eyes at him and stand in wait. It’s only a little burn, you don’t understand why you have to stay here. You fucking hate hospitals, the smell, the sight, every single fucking thing about hospitals sucks. And it’s not like your history with them makes it any easier. “For now, Mr. Vantas, you need to go back to the hospital room. I paged your Doctor and he will be with you shortly,” she says. You flip her off and stomp off, but not before you see her flip you off too. Fuck her. Dave follows you like a baby duck, making your mood even worse. When you get into the room is when he starts to talk to you. 

“Kanaya caught the dude, by the way,” he mumbles. He’s sitting on the hospital bed, criss-cross applesauce, while you stand by the door. At least one good thing came out of getting electrocuted. Great. 

“Finally. Some good fucking news. Anything else?”

“Nope,” Dave says, popping the P. 

“Cool.” 

“Like me,” he says quietly. Wait, what. You didn’t manage to stop yourself from snorting at that quip. 

“Oh, out of all the jokes that I’ve been blasting you with for the past couple of days you laugh at this one cold hard fact about myself. Really?” he snaps. 

“What fact? That’s a fucking delusion right there sir.” you snort out. Did you just snort at one of Dave’s quips? Fuck! Now he knows you are capable of feelings and will use it against you. Fuck him, you won’t fall to those fucking tricks. 

“What the fuck was that?” Dave asks. He’s making a lot of eye contact with you right now, and it makes you uncomfortable. 

“What the fuck was what?” you say, facing away from him, looking into the hallways. You can feel his gaze bore into you. 

“You just looked like I was the fucking Illuminati or some shit after laughing at my 100% scientifically proven fact about me being cool.” 

“I totally did not.”

“Why are you being so defensive?” he asks you. You glance at him from the corner of your eye and see a quick flicker of a frown flash across his face. Are you making him upset? You bite your lip refusing to answer the question. You cross your arms, and luckily the Doctor comes to save the day. 

“Ah, Mr. Vantas, let’s get a quick look here.” he starts, talking to Dave, and flipping through a clipboard. He does a double take, looking at Dave, then the picture of you, and back to him, confused. 

“Karkat’s behind you. He’s standing to prove to you he isn’t seriously injured and that will hopefully get him out of here faster, though I doubt that will work base how a patient gets out not by their wants, by their needs,” Dave jabs at you. You blow air out through your nose out of annoyance and move closer to the Doctor. 

“Oh, there you are. You’re ok for the most part, but there are some concerns I have. You were electrocuted, but I’m concerned why you passed out. From my understanding, it was only for a few moments so there would be enough to either kill you, or burn you, but not enough to make you pass out?” Oh shit, does he know? He’s a Doctor so yeah, he probably fucking knows. “Given your history, we had to draw some blood out. It’s nothing serious this time, but you need to be more careful, Mr. Vantas. I'm being ambiguous here because I’m not sure if this is information you want to be shared with your friend over here, but I’ll cut to the chase,” he finishes. Oh, thank God he didn’t say anything to Dave. You wouldn’t him thinking you’re weak. You nod, waiting to hear the news. Please don’t say you have to stay. Please, please, please! “You’re fine to leave. But, you need to lay off the coffee. We found high traces of caffeine in your system and your blood pressure was off the charts. It’s no wonder why you passed out. You drank too way too much coffee for one day. Especially with your career choice, you must have been under a lot of stress. You’re free to go, but I need you to lay off the coffee. Understand?” The Doctor finishes. Dave’s been holding in his laughter, waiting for the Doctor to leave, before he full on laughs at you.

“Coffee has given me life...rejuvenated me. Dude, coffee almost killed you. Do you really owe your life to coffee now?” he gasps for air in between his words, he laughs that hard. It does sound nice, but you still frown. 

“Shut the fuck up Strider! I refuse to take back any word I said before! Coffee is my best fucking friend, and I will drink it out of spite if that’s what it takes for you to believe me!” you yell. 

“Oh. So, does that mean that my services as your best friend are no longer required?” Kanaya says, appearing in the doorway with flowers. You blush and shake your head, giving her a hug. 

“Please don’t leave me. I’ll end up jobless and homeless if it weren’t for you,” you say, and take the flowers. You fucking hate flowers and she knows this, but you guess it’s her way of “being polite” or proper or some shit like that. She giggles.

“I would never.” she smiles. Dave sighs now, standing up, and joins you in the hug. 

“Dude, what the actual fuck” you glare at him. 

“I was feeling lonely. Someone as cool as me deserves a hug too.” he pouts, and you snort again at the comment. “Ok, it was funny at first, but now I’m beginning to feel a little hurt that you don’t think I’m cool.” 

“That’s because you’re not. You’re one of the biggest dorks I know.” you snort again. You need to fucking stop that immediately because you do not like Dave Strider. You refuse to give him the idea that you like him. Or starting to warm up to him. Or even trust him. 

“Karkat, you’re doing the thing again,” Kanaya warns you, “but I am going to concur with Karkat on this one Dave. You are the exact opposite of cool.”

“What! I’m the coolest person ever! I fucking DJ for a job and I’m 30! Most people have boring jobs! Plus, I’m like hot! How am I not the coolest person you know!” he yells out exasperated. 

“Ego,” you tell him one word. 

“Definitely ego,” Kanaya says in agreement. 

“Fuck you guys.” he pouts again, and you squirm. This is officially the longest time you’ve allowed a person to hug you for, and you’re uncomfortable with it. 

“We’ve been hugging for a long time now. Please let me go,” you complain. They both smile and hug you tighter. “Fucking let me go! Assholes!” Dave and Kanaya immediately pull away, grumbling and complaining at the same time about how “sensitive you are” or “Jesus fucking Christ Karkat, couldn’t let us have a moment”. Dave looks at his watch, eyes widen, and curses under his breath. 

“I gotta go home before Dirk. I have to go,” he shouts, grabbing his shit and running out the door. Kanaya giggles after that watching him run, and you can’t help but giggle a bit too. It takes about 15 minutes to get checked out since the nurse before oversees it. She hates you almost as much as you hate her. You’re lying, you hate her so much more than that. Kanaya signs you out and doesn’t say a word until you’re buckled in. 

“You like him don’t you,” she says with a smile. 

“No.”

“I’ve never seen you let yourself laugh with just anyone Karkat. You like him, admit it.”

“Never. Now can we please drive back?”

“Sure. But you sooooo like him,” she giggles and drives you back. 

===>

Fucking hell, you hate this fucking place so much. You mean, you were only here to get one thing done, which you did until a better offer came around. You like what you’re doing, getting revenge on the little piece of shit you call a son. It was only supposed to be a surprise show up and get him all riled up and freaked out for a couple of weeks, but this idea is only more brilliant. And all it took was a little inside help. You finish your work, slashing the coffee table in half, leaving the apartment in a mess. You leave a single Fanta can in the center of the room and head out. Thank god for that distraction though, or else Dave would’ve been here ruining all of this. You pull your baseball cap low on your face, and flash step your way out of the apartment complex. Honestly, you thought that destroying that place would have relieved your anger, but that only feeds it, adding fuel into the fire. You, Bro Strider, have gotten a taste of revenge, and you’re only hungry for more. 

===>

You take a step outside you let yourself have a moment to breathe. Thinking about today’s event puts a smile on your face until you’re laughing, maniacally. No one has a clue what’s going on, what’s happening, and you’re so fucking pleased. Honestly, you thought you would have been found out a long time ago, but no one has made the connections. And you’re going to fuck everyone over.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

You, Karkat Vantas, see absolute chaos when you and Kanaya pull up to your apartment. It took you a bit to get back cause you had to debrief with your Captain and you and Kanaya stop by somewhere to grab something to eat. But, this surprises you. Police cars are parked outside, sirens wailing, and only one thing runs through your mind when you look at this scene. The fucking Crew. You don’t even wait for Kanaya to stop the car as you leap out of the moving vehicle and race up the stairs. Is everything ok? Is Dave ok? If those fuckers even touch a hair on Dirk’s hair you promise yourself that you will fuck them up so badly they won’t even know what hit them. You yank the door open and see the two relaxed Striders chatting with officers amongst the destruction of their apartment. “Oh, sup Karkat,” Dave greets you nonchalantly as if this just happens almost every Wednesday night. You think back about how badly you messed up your room trying to find a bug and think how much worse this is. 

The kitchen has food splattered all over the stove and walls and glass from all the dishes litter the floor, inviting a twinkling death for anyone who dares to enters. The living room is surprisingly worse since the couch has been viciously stabbed, fluff flying everywhere. Glass liters the floor here too, as the TV lay flat on it’s back, wires pulled out, and the coffee table is slashed in half. The dining table was left in splinters, wood chips across the floor as you try and restrain your swearing. A record player, in all its rarity was crushed, as shattered records mix with the broken glass. Dave follows your eyes and picks up a record cut in half, The Human Condition. He doesn’t say much, and Dirk doesn't say anything else either, they both kinda stare at the mess, leaving you more confused. You told yourself that you will fuck up the Crew if they did something, and now you know you will. 

As you move in to inspect more, you find a perfectly clear circle, out of place in this destruction, with a single Fanta can in the middle. What the fuck? Whoever did this obviously left a message, but you don’t understand it. This isn’t the work of the Crew, you realize it now, but if not them, then who? Dave’s phone rings and he takes the call into the hallways. A bunch of your co-workers are here too, but they don’t acknowledge you. They take a sweep around, give you a pat on the shoulder as they finish up their work. You understand enough to know that Dave needs to make an insurance claim, but it still fucking sucks that this had happened to them. Dirk stays silent, going into his room, only to come out more neutral than he already was. 

“He destroyed everything,” he says, talking to you, and you not really knowing why. He presses his lips together, but you can’t tell anything from his face

“He?”

“Fucking asshole!” Dirk kicks the door, voice wavering, “I had a project in there! I was applying for the robotic program early! And he destroyed it!” and almost robotic, Dirk stops. He doesn’t do anything else out of anger, doesn’t cry, doesn’t really do anything. He just stares at the mess, neutral, not moving. You want to do something to help him, you really do, but you have no idea what’s going on. Dave comes back inside from his phone call and sucks in a breath realizing that Dirk’s not moving. 

“Hey, little dude? Are you ok? What's the matter?” Dave asks Dirk gently, but Dirk refuses to respond. “C’mon Dirk, it’s ok to be mad,” Dave coos, trying to coax something out of Dirk. You feel out of place witnessing this and move to go inside your room. Of course, with difficulty, because shit was everywhere. Your room isn’t in any better shape, but it’s still safe to sit on the bed. You don’t want to even peek in the other rooms. You try and clean up a little bit, ignoring the conversation going on outside your room, and ignoring your side as focus on one thing at a time. 

===>

You, Dave Strider, are trying to figure what the fuck to do next. You fucking hate your older Bro so fucking much! He came in here, destroyed your apartment, and upset Dirk, but honestly, that’s just a great representation of most of your childhood. You shiver and practice some of the techniques that Dirk’s therapist used on him when he was first being treated. “Dirk, wanna take a deep breath in with me?” you start and inhale deeply. You’re trying to get him grounded and not as detached as he is. It takes a couple of minutes of coaxing until you finally break through. Dirk’s upset. Really upset. You remember when he got the invitation to even apply to the program, and now all those sleepless nights of coding gone in an instant. He bawls his eyes out, clinging to you, and you don’t know what to say or do. You never thought that this would happen, and now, well, now you’re struggling. The insurance people will be coming tomorrow, the police officers made half-assed promises to “look into it”, and you’re overwhelmed. Rose already assured you that you all can sleepover her place tonight, and you already called out for your gig tonight too. Sighing, you hug your little brother back, and try and whisper comforting things in his ears, until he quiets down a little bit. “You feeling a little bit better?” you ask him, and he nods. “Good. I’m going to go grab Karkat, and we’re all going to have a fun sleepover at Auntie Rose’s. Ok?” you ask, and he silently wipes his tears and gathers the few items he has left. You knock on Karkat’s door, and it looked like he was trying to neaten up his room, wide-eyed in confusion but gets ready to leave anyway. It’s right about then, you hear a knock on the door and your day goes from shitty to the shittest day ever. 

===>

You, Karkat Vantas, had grabbed your uniform and whatever else you could, to go and sleep over Rose’s place. After a few minutes to yourself, you figured out that the attacker was none other than Bro Strider, douchebag extraordinaire. Dave knocks on your door about 20 minutes later, and you’re in the present. Staring down a familiar face you promised yourself to never see again. 

“Mrs. McNeil!”

“Why, if it isn’t Karkat Vantas? I thought I would never see your face again!” the chubby lady smiled. God, you hate her so fucking much. If there’s one thing you know about Mrs. McNeil, it’s that she’s a fucking bitch! “Oh, are you still doing that horrible police academy thing? Honestly, I thought that was the worst decision of your entire life,” she says smiling, looking straight at your badge. Yep, still a bitch. A dumb-ass bitch. 

“Why, yes Mrs. McNeil. In fact, I graduated. I’m an Officer now.”

“At least you learned some manners at the academy. Before you were always so…angry!” she shouts, finding the right word, “Angry and hostile. Nice to see you all grown up now.” she smiles again. You, with the last of your patience gone, wonder why the ever loving fuck she’s even here! She was your social worker, case manager, all the things about your past you want to fucking forget, so why is she even here! “Nice to see you, Dave,” she says. Oh. Fuck. You remember how Rose said something about helping Dave out with the CDC “Now, where are you folks heading too so late at night?” You take one look on your phone and see it’s only 7. 

“Umm,” Dave tries to explain, but she shoves her way in to see what’s going on. 

“Why, Dave!” her hands fly up to her mouth as she bats her eyelashes, whipping out her phone and taking pictures. “This is not a suitable place to raise a child!” she continues, walking around. You pray that she slips and chokes on the glass. 

“You see Mrs. McNeil, the apartment was broken into so we’re-” 

“How come? Did you leave the door unlocked? Gave out your key? Very irresponsible.” she mutters pulling out her notebook. You hate that notebook and do everything to restrain yourself from yanking it out of her hands and punching her in the face. 

“Actually, when Dave was picking up Dirk, the intruder came in, broke the lock,” you say, pointing at the broken doorknob. She glares at you, so quickly you barely picked it up. Hmm. “He already called the insurance company, they’re sending someone in tomorrow,” you continue. 

“Yeah, we’re going over my sister’s place to sleep over,” Dave awkwardly finishes, “Now, I don’t mean to be rude, but Dirk does have to get up early tomorrow, and we were on our way out,” Dave points to the wide open door that Mrs. McNeil barged her way in through. She came in through the broken door, this dumb ass bitch playing her fucking tricks again. She glares at him, apologizes for intruding, and leaves. You know Mrs. McNeil well enough that’s she’s crooked. She’s only being paid to do this, paid outside of her work of course. Of course, after seeing her, puts one thing into place. She never asked what was your relationship with Dave, why you were with him because she already knew. She mocked her surprise to spite you, but by doing so, she fucked up. Whoever is paying her, is also fucking with you and Dave. And you’re going to make them pay! 

===>

When you, Dave Strider, finally make it over to Rose’s place, you feel drained. It’s been a day and a half for you, and all you want to do is lay down and go to sleep for the next eight hours. But, sadly, your anxiety won’t let you. You check up on Dirk and Roxy, say goodnight to Rose, and go to your room. And by your room, you mean the guest room you are forced to share with Karkat. Rose has only one spare, and Dirk is currently sleeping in Roxy’s room, so you and Karkat are going to have a fun time tonight. He was standing by the window, clearly brooding and glares as you come in. He doesn’t say a word to you though, and you can tell that he’s clearly spacing out. 

“Are you ok dude,” you ask him. He’s uncharacteristically quiet, but he sighs and flops on his bed. 

“I’m so exhausted, but I don’t want to go to sleep. You? You’ve probably had the worst day seeing how your house was messed up by that fucker,” Karkat doesn’t really look at you but you can tell that he’s pissed. 

“Yeah. Today sucks. A lot. First, you get like electrocuted and almost died cause of coffee which is kinda funny now, but all I can think about is if my insurance will even cover the damages. You?”

“Well, being tazed wasn’t fun. My side burns and itches at the same time, so that’s cool I guess. Plus everything in my new room is completely demolished, so the few items I had, are destroyed forever, and I know I won’t get any insurance over a box of stuff. At least I could save my uniform cause those things are ridiculously expensive. But I lost a shit ton of work and my Captain is going to beat my ass when I get in tomorrow,” Karkat complains, “To be honest though, I was asking more about how you’re feeling,” Karkat rolls over to face you. Rose has an awesome guest room since she’s kind of an awesome person. It’s set up so that there is a giant king size mattress for one guest, but it can split off into two twin sets if they’re more than one, which is your situation right now. It looks like a fucking hotel room in here, with a little table between the beds with flowers in a vase. As much as you hate Rose, she’s the best at interior decorating. You flop onto the bed and roll over to face him. 

“I don’t know man, I’m confused as fuck if I’m being honest,” you say surprising yourself. Karkat’s eyes widen in response but he doesn’t say anything, allowing you to continue, “I mean, like yeah I should be upset, but I didn’t really have anything sentimental in there. I’m more worried about how Dirk’s taking it cause he worked really hard on his robot, and I have no clue how to help him with it, since he’s the only one who knows how the whole programming and shit works...all those nights spent working on it down the drain cause of that asshole,” you mutter. Karkat’s eyes bore into yours, and you thank the heavens for the shades, but still feel yourself blush. 

“We’ve both had shitty luck since we crossed paths huh?” Karkat rolls on his back now, no longer staring at you, and you do the same. “Though, I feel like you’re avoiding the question and undermining the problem. If I were you I would be having the world’s most immature tantrum and telling everyone to take one straight up the ass,” Karkat says. You really don’t know how to respond to that so you just stay quiet. “I mean,” he continues, “all I’m saying is that if you need to rant, I’ll listen.” Damn. You were definitely not expecting that. 

“Hmph, I think I’m alright,” you lie, and you hear a hiss from Karkat. “What?”

===>

You, Karkat Vantas, are getting upset over something Dave should be getting upset over. And what sucks the most is that you know that Dave is upset. It’s all over his face, the tiny cracks you can see through his neutral expression. You know he’s trying to look all cool too, but you also know that he’s upset. And you hate how nonchalant he’s being with you and you want to put a hole in the wall trying to evoke some emotion from the dude. You know that he’s angry and upset and frustrated, and a shit ton of other emotions, but he’s refusing to acknowledge it. Why! 

“What is it Karkles? I can practically hear you fuming over there,” Dave asks you and you want to whip a pillow at his face for even fucking talking. 

“I don’t understand!”

“What is it that you don’t understand?” the way he repeats your question annoys you, and you again restrain yourself from whipping a pillow at his face. You suck in a breath and begin to explain. 

“Ok, you’re shitty Bro shows up for God knows why, and then he breaks in and destroys essentially everything that you’ve made to forget him, and destroyed Dirk’s project. How are you not putting your fist through a wall in frustration right now?” you finish, rolling over onto your stomach. Maybe this might get him to open up to you. You shift over a bit, hating the fact that it takes like 413 different sleeping positions until you feel comfortable. That and like, as you mentioned, your side itches and burns at the same time which also makes it really uncomfortable. He sits in silence, on his back, legs crossed, hands behind his head, with his idiotic shades, as he thinks. Finally, after what felt like twenty hours of silence, he speaks. 

“Well, for one, I’m not really attached to anything in there. If I care about something, I won’t just leave it anywhere,” he says. You look at him for some more explanation. “Like, Dirk. I carry a picture of Dirk on my phone and in my wallet. All my tracks are always downloaded onto a thumb drive that’s on my keychain, cause I don’t want to leave it at home and have Dirk accidentally use it for some extra parts for his new robot,” Dave explains. 

“I feel like you’re speaking from experience?”

“Hell yeah, I am. He used a thumb drive I left lying around for a Guardian robot once, and I lost an entire album,” Dave complains. 

“Damn,” 

“I was mad, but then again, I learned my lesson,” Dave laughs a bit at the memory. You can imagine Dave coming home and wait—

“Does Dirk actually build like real robots? Like actual robots?” You ask and Dave nods. 

“Hell yeah. A great programmer too. He’s so smart he skipped a couple of grades,” Dave says proudly.

“So what grade is he in now?”

“Oh, yeah, he’s a junior in high school,” Dave says proudly again. Wait, what!

“But doesn’t he have friends his own age and stuff?”

“Well yeah. I knew that Dirk was smart since he was in preschool. But I didn’t want him to be isolated from people his own age, and I didn’t want to put unnecessary pressure on him and have him burn out. It was last year when I let him test out of the grades he wanted too, and boy, did he kick those tests butts. But, at the same time, he isn’t ready for college yet, and I wanted to have him some form of a high school life, so yeah, he’s a junior. Doing well, and keeps in close touch with all his friends, though he refuses to tell me anything. The only reason why I even let him test out of the grades too was because of them, Roxy especially. She flat out told me that she’s going to run away with him, and then when he’s the next Steve Jobs he’ll make the music business crash so hard that I’ll be homeless that day. I’m glad he has such great friends though,” Dave smiles when he talks about Dirk, and you can safely assume that Dave does love Dirk. A lot. 

“Sucks about his robot though.”

 

“Well yeah. It was his pride and joy. He got the idea in the middle of the night and everything, damn.” Dave says this softly, and it brings you back to your original question. 

“Are you sure you’re ok? I mean, like is there anything I can do to help?” you ask him. He chuckles softly now, low and deep, and it’s honestly the sexiest thing you’ve ever heard…...DAMMIT!

“The good thing is that no one was home, and no one is hurt. Also, I’m fine since I have a cute cop who’s getting me a restraining order.”

“Oh, is it someone I know at the station...Is it Sydney because she’s a fucking bitch under all that makeup. Or is it Sean, because even though he’s also hot as fuck, he’s a shitty person who catcalls people so…” and Dave laughs now, rolling over to face you. 

===>

You, Dave Strider, laugh at a stupidly oblivious Karkat. God, is this not the funniest shit ever. He continues to ramble through the different hotnesses and issues with his co-workers until you stop him.

“No, Karkat, I was talking about you,” you laugh, watching his expression go from frustrated, to surprise, and into embarrassment. He shoves his face into his pillow, clearly trying to cover the blush that sprinted onto his face the moment you mentioned his name. “Dude, you’re fine. I’m only joking around.”

“Yes it does, because I just pulled the world’s most idiotic stunt of being obvious as fuck, and I want to leap out of the window,” he screams. 

“I mean yeah, you’re acting like the girl from 50 First Dates. God is that a shitty movie,” you say. Only a few seconds later you feel a WHOMP of something landing on your back as Karkat takes a daring leap towards you.

===>

You, Karkat Vantas, feel the anger you felt before rising up inside of you and manifest into this. You just whipped one of your pillows at Dave, and jump from your bed to his, aiming to get another good whack onto his skull. But Dave is quicker than he looks. In a blink of an eye, he ends up behind you, whacking you from behind while you’re still in mid-air. You feel the air leave your lungs, and you fall flat on his now empty bed. 

“What’s wrong, Karkles? Can’t take some of your own medicine?” he giggles a bit, and you hear him ready his pillow for another attack. When you hear the pillow leave his hand, you twist yourself into the air, catching his surprised face as you smash a pillow across it. It must have been a hard hit, cause Dave goes down like a sack of bricks.

“It’s fucking KARKAT!” you screech, “And Lucy Whitmore is a fucking goddess!” you finish him off by taking advantage of his fallen state, gladly hitting him with another pillow. 

“Karkat, stop it!” he laughs as you try and smother him with your pillow, “C’mon dude, I’m sorry I insulted Reese Witherspoon or whoever...” he laughs. This should piss you off, but he’s also laughing so you guess that's also a plus. 

“Hell no!”

 

“C’mon Karkat,” he says softly, then grabs your wrists, pulling them off of his face, trying to squirm from under the pillow. You struggle against his grip but he refuses to relent. 

“Uhhhh………….should I come back later?” a young voice stops the both of you from continuing the pillow fight you were definitely winning. Dave slides out from under you, and you jump off him, as Dirk stands in the middle of the room with a bemused grin on his face. 

“What are you still doing up?” Dave asks him immediately, face neutral. 

“Dave, stop trying to pull the cool expression off and shut your mouth. You too Karkat,” he says, looking at you. Unlike Dave, he has his shades off, and his eye color surprises you. It’s orange, bright orange, and you struggle to not rush up to the poor boy. “Karkat, shut your trap and listen to me.” 

“Your eyes are…”

“Yes, I fucking know...gross or whatever adjective you were going to say but listen…”

“I was going to say wonderful, so fuck off,”

“Oh, wow Karkat what a totally unimportant comment to interrupt me with,” Dirk says glaring at you. 

“Stop being sassy and tell us what’s up so you can get your grumpy ass to bed,” Dave frowns, glancing at the time on his phone. Wow! It’s already midnight. Dirk glares at Dave and then at you. You close your mouth and he begins again. 

“Before you get on my ass for not sleeping, everyone in this house can hear the scuffle going on between the two of you because you’re so fucking loud,”

“Language!” Dave tries but Dirk lifts a hand to shut his mouth, as you grumble quietly under your breath

“Anyways. I’ve only come to tell you that I know what I’m going to build, so be ready,” Dirk says, and then he leaves, just like that. 

“Holy shit. Dang Karkat, get ready.” 

“For what?”

“You’ll see,” Dave says, the tiniest trace of a smile on his lips. 

===>

You, Dirk Strider, are sleeping over your favorite half-sister’s house because your shitty Bro ruins everything he sees and should just go and die. Roxy is chilling on her bed, doing her nails and listening to you rant about everything. 

“I don’t understand, why he’s gotta cause this pain. I tried so hard to comprehend why you always wanted to slap backhand. Now everything I’ve worked for is destroyed and, honestly, now I’ve very annoyed. Because all you seem to do hurt, which is the sole reason for this spurt. Right, Roxy! Am I making any sense here?” 

“What I got from that was rhyme, rhyme with too many syllables, another cheesy rhyme, ending with an even worse rhyme. Aw Dirky, I know you’re upset come here,” she motions you over, making sure to move her toes over to give you some more space. 

“I’m not that upset,” you try and argue and she scoffs.

“Dirk I’ve never heard you rap so shittily before, and that only happens when you’re upset,” she says, wrapping her arms around you. You are upset. You’ve worked on this projects for months because you wanted to give your bro the final product. “I know you worked hard on the sunglasses, but I assure you, that you will find something that’s even better to pass in.”

“The deadline’s in two weeks. I don’t think I’m going to make it then,” you complain, but rest into her hug. She snorts into your shoulder and pulls away. 

“Dirky, if there is one thing I know about you, it’s that you are smart enough to think of a way out of any situation. And you have plenty of time to make a new pair of shades for Uncle Dave’s birthday,” she says, “Now, I’m going to sleep, unless there’s something else you wanted to talk about…” she trails off clearly wanting to talk about something else. 

“Like…”

“Like, you and Jakey!” she squeals, carefully putting the nail polish down.

“There’s nothing to talk about Rox,” you tell her and you see her deflate.

“Fine, if you say so…”

“I know so Roxy. He and I will never be a thing and that’s mainly because he’s too dense to even figure out that I like him. And I’m too much of a coward to say or do anything about it.” you sigh, leaning back on the bed. You hear the sound of giggling and mutterings of yelling coming from downstairs. “What do you think is going on down there?” you ask Roxy, who shrugs.

“Maybe your bro is actually getting some tonight while you sit on your pathetic ass complaining,” Damn. Roxy will give you any reason to be burned, and she’s really salty that there's nothing going on between you and Jake. You roll your eyes and try and settle in between her and the pillows surrounding her bed. “You know, it’s not the end of the world if you’re honest with your feeling for once,” Roxy mutters sleepily, completely ignoring the nail polish she was adding before, and pulls on the covers on the both of you. You shut off the lights, trying to fall asleep, but what Roxy said really fucked with you. Are you not being honest with your feelings? You try and imagine what it would be like to ask Jake out. How it would feel to hold his hand….maybe even kiss him? 

“Mmm, Roxy..”

“Yes, Dirky?”

“Let’s say I was thinking about asking Jake out? How would I even do that?” 

“You gotta do what’s best for you, Mutie,” she whispers in your ear, completely asleep. You sigh a bit annoyed she responded so well in her sleep in the first place, talking to her fucking cat. Now that you’re thinking about it though, she can have full conversations in her sleep and has even been known to sleepwalk. You’ve saved her from multiple trips down the stairs, and now, you grow jealous of her peacefully sleeping state, knowing that you will never achieve it. 

Your brain reels now fantasizing about something you tried so hard not to fantasize about. You cannot believe how selfish you’re being right now, and how much you could potentially hurt Jake. Jake has been everything you kinda wanted to be, like how cool he is. He’s brave, facing each “adventure” with nothing except a goofy grin on his face and a good attitude. It surprises you that you’re even friends in the first place. Your younger self-was obsessed with swords and Jake was obsessed with guns, you guys should have never been able to have had a conversation, but here you are now, together, being best friends. You know that he has never thought of you guys as any more than being best friends and how on earth should you even have the right to possibly fathom you guys in a relationship.

How would you even ask Jake out? That is if you even want to ask him out, cause like the two of you are only bros. Best bros, nothing more...right? But, let’s say that you were going to ask him out, how would you even do it? Roxy’s words reverberate in your head, doing what’s best for you. What does that even mean………… how the holy hell haven’t you thought about this before! You shove past Roxy, who miraculously managed to stay asleep and head downstairs to where your bro is supposedly sleeping. You can hear them talking about shit, but you know what you’re going to say. You’ve been struck with the ghost of inspiration and you need to let him know, now. Before you even enter the room you hear a peculiar sound, specifically Dave’s laugh. That’s actually the strangest sound to have ever graced your ears since he’s never really done that before. Ignoring your curiosity you push open the door in time for you to see Karkat leap towards your bro and try and smack him with a pillow. This isn’t awkward at all. The words are practically pushing out of your throat as you wait for a good opportunity to speak, but things are only getting more flirty. 

“Uhhhh………….should I come back later?” 

===>

You, Karkat Vantas, lie in bed, lights out, trying to fall asleep. After Dirk left, Dave mentioned something about actually getting some fucking sleep for once, and you tried. You really did, but you just can’t. Your brain is whirring after today’s events, and you are trying to put all the clue in your head together and figure out what the actual fuck is going. Standing up, you softly tiptoe out of the room and get somewhere where you can smash your fingers on your keyboard as loudly as you want. Luckily, Rose is a perfect host who has multiple living rooms with closets filled with blankets and pillows nearby. Damn, you can see why Kanaya likes her so much. After leaving the room, you find a comfy spot in Rose’s living rooms and hunker down beginning to write out your ideas. 

1)The crew has it out for you: If today was an example of how angry they are, you can only assume that things are going to get worse with them, given your history.

2)Someone is tracking you: You thought it would’ve been a bug, but today, with Mrs. McNeil, proved to you that it has to be another person involved in all of this.

3)Mrs. McNeil is a fucking bitch: Now that is a fact you have to establish because she is a fucking bitch. A bitch who would do almost anything for money, even if it’s unethical.

4)Dave’s Bro is a part of it: It’s clear to you now that the whole tazing was a diversion in order for his Bro to break in. But what’s the connection between Bro and the crew? You have been studying this gang for years and this is the first you’ve ever even heard of this Bro. 

5)Whoever’s tracking you has something against you and Dave: Why else make your lives so miserable? This all started happening when you first met Dave, and this isn’t to blame him, but there is a clear connection between the two of you and the attacks.

“Do you ever sleep?” Dave appears over your shoulder reading over what you’re typing. Of course, this motherfucker catches you off guard, causing you to jump almost five feet in the hair. “Jesus fuck dude, calm down. I was concerned why you got out of bed and had to see what was happening. What if there’s a party and I’m not invited…...dude, can you at least pretend that you’re listening to me?” Dave rambles. As he does, you try and continue finding connections between the two of you, until Dave shuts your laptop.

“What. The. Actual. Fuck, Strider,” you restrain yourself from screeching to the top of your lungs as he grabs the laptop and disappears. “Strider...where the fuck are you, stupid fucking asshole….” you grumble, looking around wildly, only to see him standing in front of you. “Give me back my laptop,” you growl, and he shakes his head. 

“Nope, I can hear you clicking away from our room. Also, when’s the last time you even slept? Cause I’m pretty sure this like your third all-nighter,” Dave scolds you. You hiss at him, baring teeth and everything, but Dave doesn’t move. 

“Why do you wear your glasses all the fucking time? Answer me that, and I’ll go to sleep,” you test out, clearly pissed that he hasn’t given you back your laptop. He only moves into your room and doesn’t answer. “Fucker!” you shout at him, wanting your laptop back, but then you feel a heaviness in your eyelids. He wouldn’t be lying when he says this is your third all-nighter. Defeated, you follow him into the room and pull the covers up tight, finally falling asleep. 

===>

Holy shit did that work! You, Dave Strider find yourself mildly surprised that Karkat listened to you and decided to take a break. You close your eyes, actually falling asleep, pleased and relaxed, hoping that tomorrow will be a little better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It was a lot of fun to write....especially the pillow fight scene...I was listening to Dance of Thorns the entire time. Unfortunately, I won't be able to update until November because of college stuff, so I will hopefully see you all then! Have a wonderful Halloween!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I survived the college application process, and to celebrate here's a new chapter!!! Complete night owl shenanigans!!

Chapter 8

You, Karkat Vantas pretend to be asleep, as you listen for Dave’s breath to even out and slow down. When you’re sure, absolutely positive that he’s actually asleep, you sneak quietly out of the room. You know that Dave is a light sleeper and he’s probably going to feel hurt or whatever if he finds out you didn’t go to sleep, but as long as you’re awake, the case is all you can focus on.

You close the door quietly, making sure that he’s still asleep (you learned your lesson the last time), you head to the kitchen and try and find where he could have left your laptop. You’re checking near the washing machine and dryers when you hear the soft pads of footsteps come up from behind you. You panic and whirl around expecting to see Dave. Instead, it’s Dirk.

“Karkat, what the actual fuck,” Dirk says, standing in his pj’s glaring at you. You feel your pulse lower as the person standing in front of you is an annoyed preteen instead of a betrayed looking Dave.

“Look, Dirk, I have to work on my case, but your fucking brother confiscated my laptop,” you tell him, as he rolls his eyes at you. It’s strange to see the tiny Strider without his shades because even now, in the darkness, you can see the bright burning orange in his eyes.

“Yeah, and have blueprints that I need to plan out without hearing you stomp around the house,” he complains.

“What is with the both of you and super hearing? I’m just trying to get some work done, and it wasn’t an issue before now. Jesus,” you sigh and run your fingers through your hair clearly stressed about this dilemma.

“Maybe it’s because you’re so fucking loud!” Dirk hisses at you.

“Aren’t you like 12? What are you doing at up at,” you whip out your phone and check the time, “3 am in the morning?”

“Following in the footsteps of my adult male role model, Karkat Vantas,” he replies sarcastically, “I’ve already told why I’m up, Karkat,” he says your name obnoxiously, pissing you off more.

“Hey, the sooner I get my laptop, the sooner I stop stomping around. Until then,” you point at him, “I’ll be worst nightmare, kid,” you threaten. His eyes widen in anger, but immediately calm down.

“Look, we both want each other out of our way, so let me help you find the laptop, and go back our ways,” he says moving back to let you pass him but not before you hear him mutter, “I should build a robot to kick your ass,”

“And I should punch sassy preteens in the face, but I guess we can’t have what we want, can we?” you snip back. Dirk sighs, and goes back in the kitchen.

“My bro usually hides my shit when he wants me to sleep in the same place,” Dirk explains, heading to one of the cabinets by the fridge, “If he used his flash step, with you being in the living room,”

“How did you know I was in the living room?”

“You type loudly,” he answers, “But he usually leaves stuff precious to us,” he motions to the both of you, “with the stuff that he thinks is precious,” Dirk says opening the cabinet. Inside there are Cheetos, an apple juice bottle, Doritos, some unopened earbuds, and your laptop. Dirk smirks at you and moves out of your way again as you snatch your laptop back. “Maybe I should be a detective, it really isn’t that hard,” he smiles.

“You’re lucky you’re smart,” you say. You walk into a living room on the opposite side of your room and try and work on the couch when you realize Dirk is following you. He already has his station set up in that room, with blueprints littering the floor and a little table in front of the couch clearly for him to sketch out his designs.

“You can chill here, its fine. But if you sit or step on any of those designs, I’ll be your worst nightmare,” Dirk says, sitting on the couch. You do the same, opening up your laptop, and Dirk works quietly next to you. You both work, for about thirty minutes, but you have a question that itches at you. Instead of bugging him, you list out all the facts and clues, waiting for Dirk to finish. He is focused you can say that at least.

He throws design after design away, not liking certain things arms, or the coding would be difficult, etc. You, on the other hand, have filed away three people which you have ticketed, arrested, and filed some evidence away too. It’s about 4:45 when Dirk throws away the paper exasperated.

“This blows, maybe I don’t really want to go to college anyways,” he says dramatically, resting his head on the table. “Karkat, what do I do, I can’t make the design just right and I don’t have a lot of time to waste,” he complains. You’re surprised he asked you for advice, but you know exactly what to say to help him out.

“Have you ever tried taking a break and meditating?” you ask him, and he responds just as you expected, with complete disgust. “Look, I did it in one of my anger classes, and it’s so easy. And you can take as much time as you want, so you’re not ‘wasting time’,” you put waste in quotation marks because you love doing this. He looks confused but sits crisscross applesauce waiting to start, as you close your laptop, and say, “First sit up straight, and with good posture,” you begin.

“Cause god forbid that another teen doesn’t have to sit up straight,” Dirk says.

“Shut the fuck up and listen to me. Close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing. Listen and feel the air enter in and out of your lungs,” you start out. Surprisingly Dirk follows, and doesn’t say anything. “Ok, now breathe in for four, 1, 2, 3, 4, hold for four, 1, 2, 3 ,4 and out for four 1, 2, 3, 4.” You and Dirk sit in silence as you both continue breathing and focusing on it. You practice the breathing exercise two more times and call it quits. It surprises you to open your eyes and still see Dirk just meditating. “Finish when you wish,” you tell him, and he opens his eyes slowly.

“Woah.”

“I know.”

“Woah.”

“I know,” you smile now, knowing that you have bestowed this gift on this boy.

“Karkat, you are probably the smartest person I have ever met. What the fuck, I feel like I can actually think and stuff,” he says, grabbing his pencil, and some more blueprint paper.

You open up your laptop, and grab the files you have on the Crew and try and find some pattern to their behavior from back then, to now. It’s changed drastically since you’ve arrested Jack Noir, so you know that there is a second person at play here. Since Jack left, there is a power vacuum for a new leader, and someone had taken that spot. You’re only in year three of the notes when you hear Dirk say, “Finished!”

“Finished?”

“Done, completed, nothing left to do now but code and build,” Dirk says monotone, looking neutral but handing you design. You look at it but have no clue what’s going in the drawing, but you can see the sketch of a robot, and you’re proud.

“Good job Dirk! I have no clue what I’m looking at but I know that it looks pretty cool,” you tell him, as he waits for you to pump his fist back. You concede since the kid got some talent, and give him a pretty awesome fist pump.

“What about you?” he asks you, and you shrug.

“There are a lot of cases and not enough clues, so I guess for right now I’m stuck,” you tell him, but his eyes brighten up.

“I’m not sure if this helps or not, but would it help to know that my Bro, the asshole not Dave, has a police record and has a history of gang activity?” Dirk asks, trying to get a peek of your screen.

“Yes, it does, but no glances on the screen. This is just an organizer to get the entire case in one place and I can look at it instead of having them bounce around in my head,” you explain, and Dirk smiles.

“I do the same. I can’t just sit around and do nothing with all the plans and ideas I have, but they need to be organized,” he says excitedly, smiling and everything. It makes you giggle a bit to see how much the two act like one another, even though Dirk is definitely sassier than Dave. “What?” he says, and you shrug.

“It’s just you and Dave act exactly the same,” you say.

“What makes you say that?”

“You both are so excited over the most childish things, that’s all,” you say.

“At least it’s better than an adult man baby who throws temper tantrums,” he shoots at you. You give him a confused look as he explains, “Kanaya told me about the Whole Foods Incident.” He giggles as you throw a pillow at his face.

“You better watch your mouth.”

“Or else what? You’ll have a flirtatious pillow fight with me?” he laughs at you as you struggle and sputter to come up with a snarky comeback. “What’s wrong, the twelve-year-old showed you up to the point where you can't even speak. I’m 13 by the way, fucker,” he says, getting up with the design. “It’s like 6 now, wanna grab something to eat?” he asks, and you nod.

“Wanna know the world’s best I-stayed-up-all-night-and-I-don’t-want-to-be-sleepy-all-day breakfast?” you offer, and Dirk nods his head eagerly, and you lead the way.

===>

You, Dave Strider, wake up to the smell of coffee. Like a lot of coffee and it’s so strong that you’re pretty sure that you’ve been caffeinated from the smell. You can hear Roxy’s bright voice from the walls, and you roll over expecting to see Karkat, but only to be faced with an empty bed. Great, he probably slept last night.

Getting up, you head out into the kitchen, and see what you usually see when you sleep over Rose’s place. Rose is stirring some sugar into her tea as Roxy and Dirk are eating something, and Roxy talking about the dream she had the night before. The only thing that’s different is that Karkat is drinking a cup of coffee (Didn’t he learn his lesson yet?) while typing on his laptop. That fucker, how did he fucking find it.

“Ah. Morning Dave. Nice of you to join us,” Rose smiles at you warmly, and you nod at her.

“Morning guys, how’s everyone’s night?” you ask, and Dirk excitedly waves his blueprints in front of your face.

“Finished the designs! Now all I have to do is code!” he yells in your face. Karkat looks up from his laptop and frowns.

“He’s building a robot to confess his love to Jakey!” Roxy squeals and you glance at Rose.

“I found them like this. For Roxy, this is what you would expect, maybe a bit more hyper, but Dirk,” he hugs Roxy and runs up in front of you in an instant.

“Hell yeah, I am! I’m making a rap battle robot to battle me and my sick rhymes! Then I’m going to beat the robot in a rap battle and tell Jake that. I. Love. Him!” Dirk full out screams when he says this.

“Hey, bud, did you have coffee or anything?” you ask him, but he just giggles instead. Dirk has always been the more expressive between the two of you but never to this point. You’ve been trying to drag some truth about his feelings about Jake for years, and now he’s screaming it out loud.

“The thing is, I don’t even know why I’m laughing.” he giggles some more, and Roxy giggles too.

“I like this Dirk! A lot less moody and happier than the Dirk I know before,” she laughs, hugging him.

“Aw, I like you too Roxy.” he gives her another hug. Karkat sips his coffee awkwardly and doesn’t say a word which is also unusual for him. Dirk bounces around the kitchen eventually grabbing his backpack, Roxy’s hand, and says that he will see us at seven. He says goodbye to everyone, even kissing Rose, and lowering his glasses down to wink at Karkat. You got the life squeezed out of you from their hug, and pray to whatever god that may be out there that this is only temporary. In an instant, they’re out of the door, and Rose sips her tea.

“It looks like I have to go also, it’s late. I think you and Karkat will have an interesting conversation about what happened this morning right Karkat?” Rose says, and you both look at him, but he has taken the time to avoid all eye contact with you both, and sips his coffee, making him unable to respond.

“What did you do?” you ask him, but Rose leaves a hand on your shoulder.

“He learned a lesson,” she smiles, and fluidly grabs her bag and leaves her house. Karkat is still trying to drink the coffee as if it will stop this conversation. There is a moment of silence before he speaks.

“In my defense, I had no clue what I was getting into.” he starts. You sit on the couch, waiting for more. “It began when I found my laptop-”

“How did you even find that anyways?”

“I’m a fucking detective, Dave. It’s not that hard to find out where a middle-aged man hid a laptop. Plus I had a bit of help,” he says “But seriously, Dave. You kept it in a cabinet, it wasn’t that hard. Anyways, Dirk and I were hanging out-”

“Last night?”

“No, this fucking morning, yes last night. At 6 he said he was hungry so I decided to make my hmmm-hmmm,” he mumbles.

“You're what?”

“My I-stayed-up-all-night-and-I-don’t-want-to-be-sleepy-all-day breakfast, complete with sugar and caffeine.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you!”

“I plead the fifth!”

“What did you think would happen? That two thirteen-year-olds could handle the amount of sugar and caffeine a thirty-year-old has on a daily basis! They are younger than you Karkat, why would you do this! Especially to Roxy!”

“Clearly I was sleepy and wasn’t thinking through these decisions,” he shouts.

“And they allowed you to be a fucking cop?”

“Hey. Cool it, drama pants. They’re loose in the world and aren’t our problem until they crash. Plus, I promise you, I will never ever make that breakfast for those two again. To be honest, I haven’t made it since college,” Karkat says, and you sit on the couch next to him.

“Now you have to tell me what you made!” you ask him, smiling that the sugar and caffeine were enough for Dirk to succumb to it. It’s unusual to see him hyper because he usually can handle caffeine and sugar quite well.

“It’s a horrendous recipe I created. You start with some dark chocolate, to wake up your system,” he begins. Oh God, what forces has Karkat messed with to create this toxic mess. “Once your system is awake, you have to make sludgy hot chocolate, and thin it out with black coffee.”

“Sludgy?”

“Yes. Let’s say you have 3 cups of milk boiling, add nine packets of hot chocolate. From there you thin it out with black coffee so you can drink it. Then, grab either chocolate pudding or cereal, like Coco Puffs. You can either mix in the Coco Puffs with the pudding or eat that with chocolate milk. Finally, you finish off the meal with more sludgy hot chocolate or black coffee depending on which one you like, and as much chocolate as possible,” he finishes. You, for once, raise your eyebrows in surprise the more you listen to this recipe.

“Holy shit,” you start, “No wonder why Dirk was going nuts, he hasn’t had that much sugar….well ever. I mean he ate three slices of cake at a birthday party once when he was 6, but then I let him play Ninja for three hours and he was fine. My question is that you were with Dirk for most of this. How did Roxy get so hyper?”

“She came down near the end, and I gave her a piece of chocolate.”

“How did Rose have all of these things?”

“I’m just as surprised as you. She has an entire guest pantry filled with sweets and junk.

“And you thought that this would be a good idea to give to children!”

“In my defense, Dirk and I were bonding, and I really wanted to end the night/morning on a good note,” Karkat exclaims.

“Bonding?”

“We were meditating and everything, and he gave me a fist pump! I felt special!” Karkat groans. “And I’ve destroyed it all.”

“With coffee,” you add.

“Fuck you, Dave, we aren’t going to go through this again,” he says, and you laugh.

“Woah, I meant that ironically,” you lift your hands up in defense, but you both stop the conversation when you hear someone clear their throat.

“Should I just leave without you, Karkat? We have some warrants and investigations to get through today,” Kanaya says awkwardly, standing in the middle of the kitchen. You both immediately are aware of how close you were to each other and jump apart, and Karkat slams his laptop shut and gets up.

“Holy shit, Kanaya, how are you in here!”

 

“I’m dating the owner of this house, and got a key.” Kanaya smiles a bit at his question but doesn’t say a word about what she just saw. He grumbles and gives a weird look to Kanaya who only grins at him.

“Oh, shit yeah. Let’s go, I wanna arrest some more asses today. Bye, Dave. Have fun with the insurance people and all that jazz,” Karkat says awkwardly, eyes growing cold and hard as he prepares to leave for the day.

“Don’t say that. You make me sound like a housewife,” you complain and Karkat grins.

“Isn’t that what you are?”

“Shut the fuck up, go do your job, and don’t drink any more coffee.”

“Whatever ‘sweetheart’. Dinner better be ready when I get back,” he jokes, and you both laugh, and Kanaya clears her throat again. “Bye Strider,” he waves at you on his way out.

“Bye Vantas,” you smile and wave back at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I wouldn't suggest doing Karkat's I-stayed-up-all-night-and-I-don’t-want-to-be-sleepy-all-day breakfast...seriously.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! ^x^

Chapter 9

You, Karkat Vantas, let Kanaya drive you to work this morning. She’s been grinning ear to ear the moment you left Dave by himself, and honestly, it’s freaking you out. 

“Kanaya, you need to stop grinning like that, you’re freaking me out,” you start, and she smiles at you, but keeps her eyes on the road.

“How can I after what I just witnessed?” she giggles.

“Officer Maryam, what did you think you saw?” 

“Well, Officer Vantas, I witnessed my best friend having one of the weirdest but flirtatious conversation.” 

“Shut the fuck up. It’s people like you that make me want to destroy all of my fucking emotions.”

“Ok, 1. You didn’t deny that you’re flirting and 2, I am not any one of the people that make you want to hurl your emotions away Karkat, so please don’t compare me to them,” she says seriously, biting her lip. 

“Sorry,” you apologize, but instead of continuing the conversation, you look out the window. She nods, but refuses to take her eyes off the road. You guys pull up to the station and step out. When you enter, the station is as busy as ever, but everyone stops and looks at you the moment you enter. “Kanaya, what’s going on?”

“Oh, well, it’s not every day an Officer is tazed Karkat,” she explains, walking to her desk, and she grabs a couple of files. “And then go back to his apartment only to have everything destroyed.” she finishes. 

“Can you fuckers get your eyes off of me for a second, and do your fucking jobs before I show what it feels like to be tazed!” you screech. A boy behind bars looks in your direction and winks at you. His eyes are bright brown, and look red as you pass by, but what catches your eye is a huge snake tattoo that winds all the way up his arm. “Name and crime?” you ask one of you coworkers and they groan. 

“Caliborn. Disturbing the peace,” they say in quotations, “And verbal harassment,” they say seriously and soon gets out of your way. 

“Oh, please taze me, won’t you Officer? I always did like my men in uniform,” he says, reaching out a hand through the bars. 

“Nope, I like tazing the dudes outside the cell,” you say and he gets really close to the bars. Thank God your cubicle is on the other side of the room, away from him. But God didn’t bless you with desks to block him away from you. 

“Kinky,”

“Let me clarify. I use it to catch the bad guys. Like you.” 

“With an ass as fine as yours, why do have to act like there’s a stick up it all the time?” the prisoner says lazily, and you almost puke up your breakfast. 

“Go fuck off somewhere else, and ‘disturb the peace’ to someone else in this office. Literally anyone else in the office.” you mutter, but you realize your mistake a bit too late. Caliborn eyes Kanaya who is shifting through a couple of documents in her desk, bottom drawer and leaning over, a truly perfect ass ogling view for a pervert like him.

“Hey, is she your friend?” he asks, but before hearing the answer, he says, “Hey! Lady! Wanna put that ass in motion for me?” he says, and you let your anger boil. 

“Stop it or else,” you say. 

“Or else what?”

“Do you know what a taser is?” you ask him sweetly, dumbing it down for this idiot.

“Are you insinuating that you and I,” he winks at you, “Are going to have some electricity between us?” 

“Nope. But you might feel something else,” you say, and Kanaya stands up immediately. 

“Mr. Caliborn, I do not appreciate you making such lewd comments about my body,” she tells him flat out. 

“I can’t help it, when I see perfection, I have to say it,” he says, winking at the both of you. No one in the office does anything, in fact, you can see Eridan holding in some laughter. The fucker. 

“I’m telling you this once. Stop, before you get hurt.” you warn him darkly, and Kanaya squeezes your shoulder. It’s an unspoken agreement that you and her came up in your battle against anger. Essentially, you need to tone it down. If you’re getting out of control, she squeezes your shoulder.

“Oof Vantas, it’s that Latina flame in you that makes you hotter than you already are. You are so,” he looks deep in your eyes when he says this, “muy caliente.”

“I’m fucking Greek. Where-How the fuck do you know my name?”

“They say soul-mates will already know each other’s name if they’re meant to be. Do you think we’re meant to be, Vantas?” he smirks when he says this. Kanaya walks over to a colleague, and whispers in their ears, as they nod and whisper back. What the fuck is going on?

“Shut the fuck up!” you roar. 

“Hmm, yes. You know you’re really cute when you’re angry,” he winks at you again. You throw your bag at the cell, as they smack his knuckles, with a crack. “Ow! Vantas what the fuck!”

“I thought I was cute when I’m angry? Was that cute enough for you?”

“Help!” he screams, grabbing the attention of Captain Peixes, who peeks out of her office. 

“What’s going on? Vantas, did you just throw something?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because he wouldn’t shut up,”

“Did you throw something at the prisoner! Vantas!”

“You told me violence is necessary when I feel attacked. I’m being attacked.”

“What did you do this time Vantas?”

“Conform to the male fantasy.”

“Kanaya?” Captain asks for some more clarification. 

“Threw his bag at Caliborn, but the prisoner was asking for it, Ma’am.” 

“Not cool Kanaya,” Caliborn grumbles. 

“He also asked Kanaya to put her ‘ass in motion’” you report. 

“I did not—These are false accusations!” Caliborn says and Captain rolls her eyes and goes back into her office. “Vantas, you’re a fucking asshole! Also, Kanaya, why don’t you go and just like, stop being such a fucking bitch. Seriously, this is why girls shouldn't be allowed to talk,”

“If you weren’t arrested for being a prick, then I would assume the Fashion Police would.”

 

“Fashion Police? What are you in elementary school?” he scoffs, and Kanaya rolls her eyes at him. 

“No, but are you? Why are wearing a denim top with jeans? The same shade of blue for God’s sake. And the sleeves missing!” Kanaya says.

“And please do notice, that you are surrounded by plenty of successful women who are doing better than you right now. Including Kanaya, you sleazebag!” you add.

“Maybe this is why you got tazed when getting coffee with your boyfriend, yesterday morning at around 10:30 am,” he retorts, grinning ear to ear. 

“How the fuck do you know that!” you squeak out.

“I know a lot of things Karkat Vantas,” he replies, slouching over in the cell, refusing to make any more eye contact with you or speak with anyone else.

How did he know that? Was someone following you? You thought that the Crew and Dave’s Bro behind this, is there a third party bringing them all together? What’s even going on anymore? Do people think you and Dave are dating? Why? Is it because you like him? Do you have a cr— 

Kanaya interrupts your thoughts and leans down to whisper in your ear.“They said that they picked him at Hotshot, let’s go Karkat,” she explains, and you grab your bag by the cell.

“We’re going to fucking catch all of you assholes,” you whisper at the man, but he doesn’t say anything or move. “Snitches get stitches, bitch. C’mon Kanaya, we have a lot of work to get done,” you say, and you and Kanaya head out the door. Kanaya lets you drive, and you both head to the first address. 

====>

You, Dave Strider, were on your way to therapy. You had already met with the insurance people, who agreed to cover everything since it isn’t your fault, and you were smart enough to get policy to cover something like this ages ago. You’ve made appointments with cleaning agencies, Ikea, etc, getting all the stuff you need. You all will have to sleep over Rose’s the next couple of days as the redo everything that your Bro broke. 

Speaking of your Bro, you’ve entered your therapist's office. He’s a really nice dude, really understanding, etc. He’s everything you need in a therapist and more. You take a seat in his office and relax as he gets started. 

“Hello, Dave. How are you?” he asks, and you sigh. Even though he’s a pretty chill dude, you still feel nervous talking about your personal stuff. 

“Pretty good. Pretty stressed. You know the usual,”

“Then what made you make this extra appointment?”

 

“Well, stuff’s been happening, I guess?”

“You guess, or you know?”

“I know,” you admit and he raises an eyebrow at you.

“Will you be willing to tell me?” he asks, and you shrug. “At least give me one new thing that might have maybe gotten you to make this appointment,” he tries. 

“Probably Karkat,” you answer. 

“Who’s Karkat?”

“My new roommate.”

“Why do you have a new roommate?” he asks, and at that point, he pulls it all out of you.  
and then some.” 

“What makes you say ‘and then some’? Did something happen?”

“I think it started last week, when I got arrested,” you begin, and run through the whole story with him. From being arrested, Karkat moving in, seeing Bro and standing up to him, Karkat’s freak out over the note. Karkat being tazed, Bro destroying the apartment, Dirk’s hyperness, everything up until now. Your therapists listens with wide eyes, and lets you speak until you’re done. There’s a beat of silence after you’re done, and you were expecting it because who’s life is fucking like it. It’s like you're one of the main characters for a fangirl’s messed up fanfiction. . . . or something.

“Thank you for sharing, Dave,” 

“It’s no biggie, I just thought it would be nice to you know, make sure I don’t spiral or some shit like that,” you add. 

“That’s true. And that’s my job. Tell me, how you’re feeling now?”

“Same old.” you lie. You twist your hands, wrapping them around and around in hopes that maybe it might stop the panic rising inside of you. 

“You mentioned your new roommate, Karkat is his name, correct?” You nod, but your arm itches more, as you pray he doesn’t ask that one prying question that will for sure cause you to flip your absolute shit. 

“Yup. But I call him nicknames like Kitkat or Karkles or KitKart, anything really. He gets pissed off though when I do it, but it’s kinda funny at the same time. I’ve seen the dude get mad over the toaster.” you finish quickly, pinching your arm. Goddammit does he know? What are with therapists and being more stoic than you!

“Hm,” he says and writes something down in his clipboard. “Dave I don’t want you to feel as though you are being interrogated. Feel free to share only what you’re comfortable with,” he says. “But, I should ask, just so I can understand the situation better,” he begins, and you pinch your arm again in anticipation, “How do you feel about Karkat?” he says. You let go of the breath that you’ve been holding, and he’s definitely making a note of in his stupid clipboard, and sit in silence thinking about it. 

“Karkat’s chill. Kanaya and Rose both think he’s too angry for his own good, but Dirk likes him, so I think that’s ok—”

“I’m going to stop you right there, Dave. First off, I still have no clue who Kanaya is in all of this. Secondly, I never asked how they felt about Karkat, I asked you. Dave, I’m asking this because you have a tendency to dismiss your own feelings,” he explains. You swallow and breathe trying not to freak the fuck out, speak, and calm down. 

“C’mon Doc, you know me enough by now to know that I do not do that. I just care a lot about others,” you defend yourself and he scribbles down something else. 

“Then, how do you feel?”

“He’s, umm,” and you trail off. Your therapist frowns, writes another note on his clipboard, and sighs. 

“Are struggling to say what you’re feeling again, Dave?” he asks, but you don’t answer. A side of you wants to slap you for being so sensitive about your emotions and spit it out while the other one is holding a knife to your throat threatening you to speak if you dare. “Dave? Dave?” you snap back into focus, and realize that, hahaha, your going to give yourself a panic attack. Yay! “Have you been taking you medication?”

“Of course Doc!”

“Have you been feeling worse than usual?”

“I’ve been on cloud nine.”

“I’m going to assume that it’s a hell yes since again, you underemphasize your emotions,”

“Gee, rub it in my face more, why don’t you?”

“Alrighty. Dave, you tend to under-”

 

“I was joking.”

“I know, I was playing into your sarcasm,” he says, and proceeds to grab another sheet of paper. “Dave, I want you to begin vocalizing your feelings more. Use the exercises I taught you when we first met. I’m also increasing your dosage, just to be safe.”

“Great. So much for progress,” you roll your eyes, but you’re surprised to find your therapist roll his eyes back at you. 

“You’ve made wonderful progress, Dave. In fact I would say that you’ve made bounds and strides in your recovery,” he winks at you with his shitty pun. And this fucker knew he was doing it too. You roll your eyes, but of course he can’t see it and ignore him. “Seriously, you recognized that you’re in a new stressful situation that may cause you to spiral again, so you came here. I’m very proud of you.” he says.

“Whatever you say Doc, see you next week,” you get your stuff and begin to leave but he interrupts your escape.

“I also want you to begin in the feelings journal again.”

“Fuck the feelings journal,” you snap, and he deflates. You sigh and nod your head again. “Fine! Fuck! Whatever! I’ll write my shitty feelings in a stupid ass journal, happy?” and your therapists nods his head as he hands you your new prescription. 

“I’m ignoring that outburst Dave,” he says and leans over his desk to give you a fist pump. You mumble an apology and give one to him. “Good luck Dave, See you again next week?” he asks, and you nod and leave.

===>

You, Karkat Vantas, want to die after what happened this morning. After you left Sean in the precinct you go to the club, HotShot, where you got yourself in this mess anyways. The Crew had hung out for the past 2 months, and the owner is sketchy as fuck. You and Kanaya head in. 

You are greeted by the bartender, a sweet boy in a wheelchair, and the owner, who looks like an Italian mobster with way too much grease in his hair. Sadly enough, you know the owner to be, Cronus Ampora, the brother of the bane of your existence. 

“Ehh, Karkat and Kanaya, why if it isn’t my brother’s least favorite co-workers?” he smiles, smoking a cigarette and going in to hug you. You dodge him, thank the lords. 

“Trust me when I say, I feel the same about the both of you,” you mutter but continue with the investigation. “But you know why we’re here Cronus. Don’t play dumb and we won’t screw around with your business,” you say. 

“Oh, yeah, the whole, ‘Get the Midnight Crew’ shit. What more do you want Vantas?” he rolls his eyes, and gets a drink from the bartender. “You guys want anything? Hey, Nitram, what did I say about what we do when we have guests?” he asks. Nitram wheels himself away from the counter, and makes a couple of drinks for all of you. When you and Kanaya decline, he begins to drink all three of them. Isn’t it only 9am? Why the fuck is the bartender here at 9am anyways? Whatever. 

“S-s-s-sorry about that, sir,” the bartender mumbles, and wheels away from the counter and fuck off somewhere else. 

“Don’t get too drunk Cronus, we’re not done with you.”

“First off, it’s Mr. Ampora to you, pipsqueak,” he says, ruffling your hair. “And I have a surprisingly high tolerance. Hit me,” he says. Kanaya squeezes your shoulder as a reminder to not attack him for touching you. You start.

“It’s hard for me to believe that, and I quote, “No clue who they are’, since you have, ‘A clean establishment’ during the investigation. Cut the shit, Cronus, and tell me how much you knew.” you hiss at him. He chuckles and continues smoking. 

“I never lie Vantas. I had no clue that those were the men you were looking for. Next time be more specific,” he smiles, and offers you a seat at the bar. “Anyways, I was more than cooperative when it came to the investigation in my opinion. What’s wrong? Wanted to see me so badly that you couldn’t keep your cute ass away from me?” he asks you. 

“What is with everyone today and fucking hitting on me! Fuck off, and listen to us,” you screech and Kanaya steps in. 

“Mr. Ampora, you need to understand that we have shown you multiple images of the men we were looking for, what they were wearing, and how sources told us that they came here regularly. You denied ever knowing them, but when we raided the place, we found the man we were looking for,” she says. 

“You know how suspicious you look right now, Ampora?” 

“Mr. Ampora,” he corrects you, looking agitated. 

“Ampora,” you stress, “You clearly knew something that you didn’t want to tell us, or you running such a shady club, that you have to turn a blind eye to have deniability. Which is it?” 

“I told you, that this is the cleanest places on the street, I had no clue I had gang members here. Also, do you know how many people feel the need to party here every night? It’s impossible for me to see who comes every night and when, Vantas.” he snides back, finishing off his cigarette.

“Even with us informing you who to look off, not a single one of bouncers saw them come in. That’s difficult to believe,” Kanaya says, and he pounds his fist on the table. 

“I told you both, I. Have. No. Clue.” he emphasizes, and you sigh. 

“You’re a liar!”

“No I’m not! I haven’t done anything wrong, ok! I’m just a pretty face that owns the building. I’m not in charge of all of this...SHIT!” Mr. Ampora roars. Finally! Something new. 

“I thought you were the owner/manager of this club, Mr. Ampora. Is that incorrect?” Kanaya asks, and Mr. Ampora’s eyes widen. 

“Where’d you get that idea?” 

“When you just said that you were only a pretty face that owns the building. If you’re not in charge, Ampora, then who is?” you ask, but he doesn’t answer. “Ampora, this morning, we picked up a man who seemed to know a lot about me,” you say. “A lot of tiny details about stuff that happened to me yesterday.” He clenches his fists. “Ampora, do you want to know where we picked him up? Cause I can tell you it wasn’t at the park, it wasn’t at the Subway, wanna guess where?” He mumbles something so softly that you can’t even distinguish what he said. 

“That’s right, Mr. Ampora, here.” Kanaya saves you, and you love her. Mr. Ampora still doesn’t say anything. 

“Still silence? Alrighty then here,” you slide the papers towards him, “Please be ready for it to be shut down for the rest of the week, since we aren’t leaving until we get the full story, Ampora. And you lost your right to the Mr. part of your name when you lost control of this establishment. It’s not even yours, pathetic,” you hiss out the last word to add in the embarrassment. 

“I haven’t done nothing wrong, pipsqueak! This is my club, and I don’t want to see your asses back here ever again!” he roars now, gearing up to fight. You look back at him with a disinterested stare, and he calms down. 

“If that’s all you can tell us, Mr. Ampora, we’ll be back, later on, to look through your papers and lists. You can’t stop this, you aren’t even the manager. Have a nice day, Ampora,” Kanaya says, and you both get ready to leave. 

“You’re brother was right to leave you. You’re no better than those scum,” he spits, and a chill runs down your spine. 

“What the fuck did you just say to me? Do you know my brother?” you ask, but Cronus looks at you with the same disinterested stare you gave him. 

“Karkat, leave him, and let’s go,” Kanaya says and you both go. Whatever is going on here, it runs deeper than you thought. You shiver again but head back into the Office to finish up today’s work. 

===>

You, Dave Strider, have left your psychiatrist's office. The moment you step outside, a brisk fall wind greets you, and you begin to head back to Roses. Thinking about the rest of the day all you have to do is eat, change, and play music all night long, and that plan sounds might fine to you. You whistle a new tune that suddenly popped in your head, you have no clue what it means, but it’s a bop. 

You don’t know when or how, but you feel eyes on you, and the moment you do, your anxiety crawls under your skin. You glance behind you, your whistling stops, and are greeted by leaves and nothing. You practice the breathing exercises that your therapist taught you, and just try and relax. 

As you continue walking away, the foot traffic drifts away, little by little, and soon it’s only you and one other person walking down the road. The walk directly behind you, matching your footsteps perfectly. You hear a slight mismatch between the footsteps, that person has a limp in their left foot. Like your Bro.

The thought of your Bro following you sends a shiver down your spine, and your anxiety crawls under your skin. You walk a bit faster, to leave this dude behind you, and they also quicken their pace. 

You don’t want to turn around, you’re scared too. The small you do have keeps you from turning around. The chance that is all a coincidence, you just want that destroyed. You try and break out in a natural jog instead of a full-blown, anxiety-ridden sprint.

The person behind chuckles, a low deep chuckle that comes out half in a growl, half-laugh, and that’s fucking it. You tried to remain calm and cool, but this is enough to fuck with you.

You begin to sprint, running faster and faster, trying to get away. The limp becomes more apparent, the sound of mismatched weights slam the pavement after you, and you run faster. 

It’s when you hear the distance between the both of you begin to close when you decide to flash step. 

===>

You, Karkat Vantas, feel someone slam into you as you are walking back to Rose’s place. (Kanaya drove you in and she had a date with Rose. You needed the walk to clear your mind anyways.) A blurry whiz smashes into you, knocking you to the ground, and having the wind getting knocked out of you. 

The person who slammed their idiotic selves into you is currently laying on top of you. If there ever was a time you hated being small, it’s now. You struggle and squirm to get this asshole off of you, but they don’t budge. This rude motherfucker crashes into you and doesn’t even apologize!

“WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL!” you scream. 

“Karkat?” the person mumbles, and you recognize it as Dave’s voice. You see the tufts of white hair sticking in wild direction, and the plain-faced motherfucker is laying on top of you, in the middle of the sidewalk. 

“What the fuck is going on?”

“Nothin, what’s good with you?” he says, but you see the small twitches of a frown try and pull at his face. The douchey glasses cover his eyes, and he’s trying to keep a straight face, but it’s clear something was freaking him out. 

“Don’t lie to me!”

“Ain’t lying. Everything’s cool up in Stridert—” but a gust of wind interrupts him. 

“Quit the ‘I’m cool and stoic’ bullshit and talk to me. C’mon.” You wiggle out from under him and offer him a hand up. He looks around behind him, and you do too, but you both see nothing there. He shakes his head, and relaxes, shoulders down with a long deep breath out. 

“I, um...I just thought, I...saw something.” he leaves long break in between his thought, and he’s as confused as you are. “It’s cool though. I was being an uncool for a second there. Let’s go,” he says, but then, you see it. 

A pair of shades and an old tattered baseball cap. Sitting right where you both were. 

“Dave?”

“Yeah?”

“Is this you Bro’s?” you ask, and he freezes, and turns to face you. He sees the shades and the hat but doesn’t say anything.

You pick them up and hand them to him, but Dave doesn’t take them. He presses his lips into a thin line, without saying anything, but he’s upset. That much’s clear. You both stand in silence, looking at each other to see if the other knows what you should do next. 

====>

So far, the timing of everything is going according to plan, which gives you time to take care of some… business. 

“Cronus!” you roar, walking into HotShot 

“Wait, you gotta let me explain. It was an accident, but he won’t know anything from that,” he says, standing up to greet you. 

“You don’t know that,” you hiss, and he shuts his mouth. 

“I don’t, I’m sorry,” 

“So you finally understand the gravity of your mistake. He knows that there is someone else running this place, and Karkat won’t stop until he finds what he’s looking for. D you understand that?” you as Cronus, and he nods his head. “He’s going to be looking for me, you understand that right?” you explain again, and Cronus nods his head again. “Good. Now fix it.”

“Bu—”

“Do you want to see your boyfriend?”

“Yes.” 

“Then do as I say. I don’t care how, but take care of it Cronus. Good night.” you turn and begin to walk out when you are greeted by a man standing outside of the door. His eyes glow red in the night’s light.

“Hey,” he begins, and you glare at him. “I like causing mischief, and I see that you do too,” he says, and you raise an eyebrow.

“And?”

“Let’s, make a deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With the holidays coming up, I want to try and get a new chapter up before Christmas. If that doesn't happen, then please expect one up January 2nd! Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays to everyone else!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Karkat and Dave embark on a ride-along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for one, wild night. ^w^

Chapter 11

You, Karkat Vantas, are spending a Saturday night inside, investigating. That is, until, your roommate jumps on the couch next to you.

“Sup Kit-kat?”

“Dave, can’t you see I’m working?”

“You never come to bed anymore. I miss you.”

“Well, sweetie, someone has to pay for your little hobbies,” you hiss.

“It’s not a hobby, it’s my job!”

“Come back to me when it starts paying the bills.”

“Dude, we are like the best married couple aren’t we?” he smirks and gives you his fist.

“The fucking best.” you agree and give him a fist pump.

“But seriously, shouldn’t you take a break?”

  
“Dave Motherfucking Strider, if you try and take my laptop again I will personally slit your throat when you go to sleep!”

“I take that as a no.”

“Fuck you.”

“Love ya too, ‘Kat.” he says, and begins to sprawl on the couch and turn on the TV.

“Seriously? Can’t you see I’m working?”

“Can’t you see I’m relaxing?” he echoes back, casually.

“You’re an asshole,” you growl, and grab your stuff and leave. He grins knowing he won the TV and puts on some Gordan Ramsey show.

You haven’t made any progress in your case. Which is annoying since it’s been months without any activity and those assholes are still running around the city. You’ve questioned people off the clock, you went back to HotShot, even though it’s about to be sold, and all have led to a dead end. And it sucks.

Checking the time on your laptop, you shut it off, and grab your coat. It’s almost time to head out.

“Where ya going KitKat!” Dave asks/yells from the living room. It’s been established that both boys have superhuman hearing and complain over things like you typing too loudly in your room when even Kanaya couldn’t hear it. You roll your eyes at him and wait for his brother to deal with him.

“Can you both please shut the FUCK up! I’m working with delicate material here!” he screams from his room.

“Sorry lil’ bro!”

“Dave!” he whines, and when Dirk whines like that, it means you’re on thin fucking ice.

“Both of you shut up!” you shout, intervening and, hopefully, saving Dave from himself.

“Oh hi, Karkat!” Dave yells obnoxiously, and you hear the door to Dirk’s room slam open, as he stomps over to deal with his brother. His funeral.

As you enter the living room, you walk in on the two Striders wrestling each other on the couch and they stop when they see you come in. Honestly, fights like these happen on a daily basis, and you’ve just accepted your role of babysitter, instead of a roommate. Dirk looks at you, practically begging for help.

“Give it back to him, Dave.”

“How do you know he isn’t trying to take something from me?” he says, trying to play the victim.

“Because I’ve lived with you long enough to know that you have something, now give it back.”

“I should, shouldn’t I?”

“This isn’t a fucking request, that could be covered in hydrogen peroxide for all you know.” you point out.

“Hmm, need more than that since my hands aren’t burning off currently.”

“How about the fact that I won’t fix that bug on your glasses, douche.” Dirk threatens.

“Who taught you how to swear like that? Do you kiss your brother with that mouth?”

“Fine then. What did you say the bug was? Uploading your internet history for all your friends and family to see?”

“You wouldn’t,” Dave says, and Dirk smirks.

“I got this under control Karkat. Bye,” he says and you nod.

“Whatever. Freaking boy scouts,” you mutter at them, knowing that is the best insult you can hurl at them.

“I’m not a boy sc-” they start (at the same time too, aren’t they cute) but you slam the door in their faces before they can finish their sentence.

Right now, you’re heading out into the busy streets of New York at night. Why? Because you can think better when you take a mindless walk to nowhere. Just listening to the sound of people doing nonsensical things wash over you, lets you space out for a bit. You’ve solved countless cases from these walks, the perfect time for thinking.

You also have, you know...therapy. You still hate the fact that you need it, it makes you feel weak and insane, like the only way you can function is spilling your guts to a stranger because you’re so unstable you’ll kill someone in their sleep or something. But it’s helped? You still have no clue what the fuck even happens in that room.

All you know is that it’s a really uneventful night.

===>

You, Dave Strider, had just finished your shift when you phone dings. You don’t answer it right away since you need to put away all your sick beats and other miscellaneous items, but it keeps going like it’s about to drop bass in a dope ass song. By the time you get outside, you’re worried that your phone is going to buzz itself right out of your pocket and commit phone-a-cide.

You flick it open and to find it’s Karkat pestering you like crazy.

\--carcinoGeneticist began pestering turntechGodhead at 10:14--

CG: HEY, FUCKER, PICK UP.

CG: DAVE!!!! I KNOW YOUR SHIFT ENDED LIKE AN HOUR AGO. AND BY AN HOUR AGO I MEAN A MINUTE AGO, BUT A HIPSTER DOUCHE LIKE YOU NEVER GETS OFF OF HIS PHONE.

CG: UGGGGGGGHHHHH DDDAAAVVVEEE!!!

TT: yo

CG: I DID NOT JUST SEE YOU REPLY “yo”. I’M BLEACHING MY EYEBALLS RIGHT NOW AND IT’S GOING TO BE ALL YOUR FAULT WHEN I GO BLIND.

CG: WHATEVER, I NEED YOU TO ANSWER A QUESTION, THIS IS POTENTIALLY LIFE THREATENING.

TT: cool wassup

CG: YOU COULDN’T EVEN ADD A COMMA?!

  
CG: THAT’S NOT THE ISSUE. DID KANAYA STOP BY WHEN I LEFT? DIRK SAID THAT YOU WOULD KNOW.

TT: no why

CG: I FOUND A LITTLE...GIFT?

TT: wait what!

CG: AN EXCLAMATION POINT, YOU MUST REALLY BE SURPRISED DAVE

TT: is it my fucking bro or the crew karks what the fuck is going on over there

CG: IT’S ISN’T EITHER OF THEM, BUT SOMEONE ELSE I KNOW.

CG: BUT I HAVEN’T SEEN THEM IN YEARS

CG: THEY DIDN’T BREAK-IN OR ANYTHING, THEY LEFT IT WITH THE DOORMAN.

TT: im coming home now are you gonna be ok

CG: I’M ALWAYS FUCKING FINE DAVE, RELAX. BUT I WAS WONDERING IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO GO FOR A LITTLE RIDE ALONG?

TT: did karkat vantas just admit for asking for help

CG: I CAN SEE YOUR EYEBROWS FROM OVER HERE STRIDER CALM THE FUCK DOWN. I’M NOT ASKING FOR HELP JUST WONDERING IF MY “BRO” WOULD LIKE TO COME ONA POLICE INVESTIGATION WITH ME?

  
TT: are you high

CG: I’M NOT THAT MEAN MOTHERFUCKER! I JUST WANTED YOU TO COME ALONG.

TT: if its to keep your ever persistently wild anger in check im good

CG: IT’S NOT THAT!

TT: wheres kanaya

CG: ON A DATE

TT: am i seriously kanayas replacement

CG: OH MY FUCKIUNG...NO! LOOK, STRIDER, I DO GET A LITTLE TESTY WHEN INTERVIEWING PEOPLE, SURE BUT THAT’S ONLY A PART OF THE REASON I’M HAVING YOU COME ALONG WITH ME.

TT: then why karkat cause im not sure you want to bring a ptsd anxiety-ridden adult with you on a midnight hunt for a suspect

CG: FINE, FOR THE EVER LOVING FUCK STRIDER, I’M ONLY GOING TO ADMIT THIS ONCE SO WHIP OFF THOSE STUPIDLY IRONIC SHADES SO YOU CAN READ THIS CLEARLY.

CG: I’M A LITTLE SCARED. THERE. I SAID IT.

TT: karkat

CG: I JUST WOULD PREFER SOMEONE I TRUST TO COME ALONG WITH ME FOR TONIGHT. AND I AM NOT GOING TO INTERRUPT KANAYA’S DATE FOR THIS.

TT: karkat

CG: AND I SWEAR ON MY MOTHER’S GRAVE THAT I WILL PERSONALLY RIP YOUR TONGUE FROM YOU MOUTH IF YOU SAY A WORD OF THIS TO ANYONE.

TT:...

CG: OH MY GOD WHAT!!!

TT: open the door loser, im here

CG: >:( I’M GOING TO MURDER IF YOUR FUCKING WITH ME

TT: i understand karkat surprisingly understand what youre going through now let's go

TT: dont worry well solve this together

\--turntechGodhead has ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist at 10:32--

===>

When you, Karkat Vantas, had come home from your stroll and therapy appointment, you found a strange present waiting for you from your doorman. That’s when you made a decision that you already regret. You called in a friend, Dave Strider, but now, as you realize that you invited an untrained, ironic, dorky but thinks he’s cool, civilian on this investigation, you’re beginning to worry.

“So, what’s going on?” Dave asks flopping on the couch. You’re pacing in front of him to help you think through this.

“I found this from the doorman.”

“He has a name you know.”

“Wait, did you run here?”

  
“Striders don’t run.”

“Tell that to your flushed face and sweaty forehead.”

“Not cool bro, you’re just avoiding talking about what’s going on.” Dave shoots back and you shut up.

“Fucking fine, whatever. I got this when I got back.” and carefully hand him your beloved gift.

It’s a worn down stuffed crab. His red, furry, outside has been matted down with a couple of stains and one of his claws is about to fall off. But, other than for that, he’s exactly how you remember him. Soft, comforting, and the best grouchy face only you could love.

“What the fuck is this?” Dave says, surprised form your reaction, glancing at the love of your childhood with a careful lens.

“Crabby-Crab.”

“Am I supposed to know him?”

“He was my favorite stuffed animal when I was younger.”

“Dude this explains so much,” Dave laughs picking him up.

“Be careful with him!” you snap, snatching it back, “My older brother took him with him when he abandoned me.”

“Wait, you have a brother?”

“Yeah. When I was six, we were both adopted, but on the day he turned 18, my brother left and never came back.”

“He just never came back?”

“Yeah, I haven’t seen him since then. But, he took all his shit, including this stuffed animal, and boy was I upset back then.” you mutter. “There was a note inside his claw,” you say and hand it to Dave. You can tell he’s surprised from how high his eyebrows are currently.

“You have to find him,” Dave says.

“I know. But I don’t think you should go. To be honest I’m not really sure why I invited you in the first place.”

“I’m not going to let you go through this alone, man,” he says, and stand up. “I am making it official,” he says, grabbing your hand. “Do you Karkat Vantas take me, Dave Strider, to be your trusted bro during this dilemma until Kanaya clocks in tomorrow morning? To be there with you through tantrums and Whole Foods Incidents, and actually be of some use to you during this time?” he asks you.

You want to tell him no, and head out by yourself and call it a night. At the same time, you really don’t feel like doing this by yourself, and although he can be annoying, Dave is the only person you can trust to help you get through this. You take in a deep breath, turn your hand into a fist and offer it to him.

“Hell fucking yes.”

“Then let’s go!” he says cheerily, cracking a rare Strider smile. “Wait, where are we even going?” he asks you and you groan.

“Somewhere I promised myself I would never go again.”

“Where?”

  
“My childhood home.”

===>

You, Dave Strider, and Karkat have been cruising along the highway making your way out of the city and into Highlands, New York. Karkat’s been quiet for the entire car ride so you know he’s really stressing out.

“I’m going to put on some tunes, do you mind?” you ask him, hoping that some calming music might calm him down. He shrugs and hunches over the wheel, squeezing it so hard that you’re afraid he’s going to break it off. You slip in a CD into the player and play your most relaxing slow songs you can find on the album.

“Ugh, this one was your worst one. Can you change it please?” he grumbles. Scrunching his nose when he hears it. He’s so cute! You mean in a strictly bro cute kinda way.

  
“You know this song!”

“Yeah, I live with you ding-dong, I can hear some of the shit you’re mixing,” he says, glaring at the song playing right now.

“Wait, so you’re telling me that you hate Mother’s Theme?” you say astonished. If he knows this song then could it mean…?

“Yeah, why?”

“Because it’s on the new album you swear to the heavens you would never listen too.”

“Shit,” he whispers under his breath and you laugh.

“Does this mean you listened to it?”

“...yeah.”

“Which one’s your favorite song?” you ask him and he sighs.

“A Ballad for the Grumpy.”

  
“No way!”

  
“What?”

  
“I based that song off of you dude! Oh my god, this is the best night of my life.”

  
“Well I’m glad one of us is having fun,” he grumbles and you lay your feet on the dashboard. “Feet off.”

“Hey, do you think for our next ride-along-”

“Who said I’m ever going to invite you again?”

“I was thinking we should get matching shirts or something. And we call ourselves the Detective Bros. Would you object to having matching leather jackets?!” you exclaim, and he cracks a smile.

“Fine. But you’ll have to trademark them in order to make it official. No other bros should be able to be Detective Bros,” he says grinning, “We’ll be the only ones. Detective Bros™”

“What’s your opinion on a theme song?”

“Dave I’ll wreck you mixing shit if I ever find a file that's a theme song of the both of us.”

“Definite yes. I’ll make it all manly and macho, don’t worry.”

“I hate you.”

“Love ya too dude,” you say.

You’re glad you managed to keep Karkat’s thoughts off of the hunt just for a little bit. You have a feeling he isn’t telling you something else about his past, but you know better than to push him. He’ll tell you when you’re ready.

You both continue to joke and fool around until he pulls up to a house at the end of a dead end street.

“We’re here,” he says after a bit and gets out of the car into the dark night.

===>

You, Karkat Vantas, grab a flashlight, grit your teeth, and prepare to enter the house of your nightmares. Dave calmly gets out too, and you also hand him a flashlight. He gives you a reassuring nod of neutrality and lets you lead the way.

Everything you’ve done, your entire life, was created to avoid this house, and now here you are. And you want to cry. Dave puts a hand on your shoulder, and you slowly begin to relax but you’re still working up the courage to take that brave step forward.

“You really don’t want to go in there, huh?” Dave asks, and you snap out of it.

“This is the place of my fucking nightmares, douchebag.” you hiss, but that’s enough to push you through and step on the porch.

Your house has been vacant for years now, ever since you went off to school, and it looks like it. Instead of picking the lock, your impatient ass decides to casually kick down the door. Dave lets out a low whistle, hopefully, impressed by your feat of strength.

“Remind me not to ever get on your bad side,” he says, clicking on his flashlight. He was definitely impressed.

“Too late,” you say with a grin, and put a hand up in front of him. “As a civilian, you are not allowed to enter any fucking room,” you say, grabbing your shotgun from your boot, “Until I say clear, do you understand?” you ask and he nods slowly.

“Do you have a gun on you at all times?”

“I don’t have to legally answer that question.”

“Wait, so I’ve been screwing with you for months now and one day you could have just lost it and shot me in the fucking face!” he exclaims and you elbow him.

“Shut. Up. Dave. I have no clue who the fuck is going to be there and I want to have the element of surprise.” you hiss at him again and he smirks at you.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have kicked down the door there, dummy,” he says., sticking his tongue at you. You roll your eyes.

“Maybe I should just kick your ass and leave you in the car if you aren’t going to take this seriously.” you threaten and he shuts up. You crouch down and take a step into the house.

Everything in here looks the same but older, verifying the vacancy of the house for years now. When you take a step in another floorboard creaks and you flash your flashlight around the room. “Clear!” you say and Dave strolls in ahead of you.

“Aww, so you grew up here? Where are your parents now?” he asks and you don’t answer the questions.

You instead walk ahead into the kitchen and check the room. It’s clear. The counter is covered in fine dust and knives cover most of the walls. Glass litters the floor, and it makes you smile a little bit. Ah, your childhood.

“What the fuck happened in here?” Dave asks, and you ignore him. The message your brother left for you would be upstairs. He told you to, “Go to the spot you loved the most in the place you hated the most.” Your old room. You head up the stairs telling Dave to wait for you until it’s clear.

A window is open, and a blast of freezing cold air hits you in the face. The hallways clear though, but from the way, the lack of cobwebs in the corners of the doors and the change of dust patterns on the floors tells you that someone has been here. Recently. They must’ve broken in through the top window.

“Hey, Karkat is everything alright up there!” Dave shouts.

“Yeah, we’re clear!” you let him know. He stomps up the stairs and meets you in the hallway grinning wickedly as he does,

“I cannot wait to see how dorky little Karkat’s room looked when he was younger. Oh my god, I better see a My Chemical Romance poster hanging in your room with some guyliner lying on the floor somewhere.”

“You know people tend to imagine their personal experiences into the lives of others. Did you have an emo phase, Dave?”

“...No.”

“That was a long pause.”

“Shut up and open the door,” he says, blushing. You make it a mental note to check with Rose later for some pictures of emo Dave.

You open the door and check the room. It’s clear.

There are still holes in the wall, from moments your anger got the better of you, some crudely carved in words forever encased in the wall by a knife from your everloving parental figure, and a pile of clown horns in the corner. You flinch at the pile and slowly realize that absolutely no. One. Is. In. Your room. You let go of the breath you’re holding and let Dave in.

“The more I see your house the more questions I have, but I know you aren’t going to answer them, so I’ll ask them anyway,” Dave says. “Why’s there a pile of clown horns in the corner of your room?”

“None of your business.”

  
“What about the holes in the wall?”

  
“Classified.”

“Random words on the wall?”

“I think you already know what I’m going to say.” you mutter and peer check out the other parts of the house.

Your window is still intact, but the only thing the looks relatively new in your room is an oldish poster. You snatch the poster before Dave can see and turn it over. Written in curly handwriting, which you’re beginning to recognize as your brother’s handwriting, are the next set of clues.

===>

You, Dave Strider, are beginning to get a little annoyed from the lack of answers Karkat’s refusing to give you. You wander around his room, getting more questions but also trying to not annoy Karkat too much. He has a giant poster in his hand, and you make your way to him. You fucking called it.

As you make your way over though, you accidentally step on one of the clown horns on the floor. Karkat jumps like six feet in the air, and aims his gun at you, looking panicked and scared.

“Did you do that?” he asks you and you nod as you point your hand slowly to where the clown horn was. He collapses almost immediately. “Don’t fucking do that Dave! I almost shot you!”

  
“Wait, are you scared of these things?”

“...no.”

“Whatever.” you roll your eyes at him. “Now, is there a genuine reason why you almost shot me in the face or do you want to keep being Mr. Secretity Secrets the Keeper of all Secrets?” you say crossing your arms. He glares at you and sighs, leaning against his window pane.

“Look, Dave. I’m not trying to be a dick,”

“Doing a pretty bad job at it, ”you interrupt. He glares at you harder now and crosses his arms too.

“But this,” he points to around his room, “Is everything I’ve worked so hard to leave behind. Not even Kanaya’s been here, and this isn’t the best circumstance for me to be back.” he explains. “I will answer your questions when we get back, but tonight, I just want to find my brother,” he says in a tiny voice.

And, with that, you drop it. You finally understand what he’s going through and the lack of answer makes sense.

“Oh. Got it,” you answer firmly, and walk over to him. “Now, which band member do you have? Mikey Way? Pete Parada? Roy Toro?”

“Who are those people?”

“The members of My Chemical Romance!” you say offended. He looks up at you confused but then finally understands what you're asking.

“This is a different poster, Dave,” he laughs but wraps the poster closed. “I freaking knew you were emo. I’m going to Rose’s after this. We need to head to the bus station next.” he says, getting up from his post on the window. You roll your eyes, but then get a peek of a somewhat familiar face.

“Oh my...dude. Is that Will Smith?” you ask him, trying to get a look at his poster and he glares at you.

“Classified. C’mon,” he says. But his the burning crimson rising to the back of his ears tells you that your guess is right. He snatches the poster and begins to stomp his way outside.

====>

  
The last place you saw your brother, he was waving goodbye to you from the window of a giant red bus going off to somewhere you don’t remember. He had promised to visit when he could and that it would be like he won’t even be gone. That was a lie.

You and Dave walk side by side to the end of the street and make your way to the station. It was never far from your house, about 5 blocks, and you know this walk like the back of your own hand. Each time you ever missed your brother or wanted to get away, that’s where you are.

The street light overhead flickers between the two of you, and Dave shoves his hands so far down his coat you’re worried he might make a hole. Even so, it’s those little quirks that always drew you closer to him.

Those cute little adorable, sweet quirks that are so...ARGH stop it goddammit!

  
You’ve had thoughts like these for weeks now, and it’s getting to a point where you can’t even control them. This mystery was a perfect chance to stop, but since he’s right there it just makes you think what would happen if the two of you were alone on an island and….NO.

You can’t let yourself get wrapped up in a relationship, not again. You promised yourself you won’t and you know for a fact that past Karkat deserves that the most.

===>

You, Dave Strider, have been walking with Karkat for about 10 minutes now. You pass another lamplight, exhausted, but enjoy the walk nonetheless.

Karkat lets out an annoyed sigh while shaking his head, hunching over and picking up the pace. You’ve lived with him long enough to know that he isn’t mad at you, or anyone, except himself. You stroll along aside him, trying to match his quick steps.

You ignore your rising urge to hug him, and do other non-broly things to try and comfort him like….well now! You just said that you’re going to stop and so you will. Pushing your own selfish feelings onto him, especially at a time as stressful as now, would only cause him to collapse under a pile of stress.

Finally, after another 5 minutes or so, you reach the bus station.

A singular street light illuminates the boarding area, and you can tell it’s been through a tough time. There’s penis drawn everywhere, and a group of sketchy teens circle up around a bench with an inhuman amount of smoke blowing around them.

Karkat stiffens the moment he sees them, and you intervene. You’ve seen this look on Karkat before, with his little nostrils flaring up, his eyes widening, and that sudden gasp of breath meant screamo mode Karkat was about to erupt.

“Hey guys,” you say, strolling up to the teens, and they look at you, with a mixture of hate and ignorance.

“What do you want?”

  
“I suggest you leave,” you tell them and they laugh at you, and continue smoking what you’ve identified as marijuana, and vape pens. “No, I’m serious. Just look at that guy over there,” you add and point at Karkat. He looks like he’s going to lose it, with labored breathing, hunched shoulders, and the look of death in his eye. The teens don’t even wait for an explanation, they bolt.

Karkat strides over to you, and sits on the bench seat at the end, and pulls out a stash of cocaine and some other substance you don’t want to identify.

“Those kids are idiots, this is the easiest hiding place to put shit like this,” he complains, and stuffs it into his coat pocket.

“Oh, and are you going to party later with that?” you joke and he elbows you.

“Shut up. I’m bringing it into the station tomorrow morning,” he grumbles.

“How did you know that it was there?” you ask him, and he jumps, and turns red.

“You learn from your mistakes,” he says, and then walks over to one the penis drawn walls.

“You used to smoke! Really!”

  
“You didn’t?” he asks you, surprised.

“Pshhh, of course.” you lie. He smiles.

“Yeah, you were too busy ogling over the insignificance of life as we know it to be busy hanging with the cool kids.” he fires back.

“I was the cool kid!”

  
“Sure,” he says, and kneel down at a spot in the wall.

Most bus stations are just these plain plastic walls with a metal roof of some sort, but since this is a private bus or something, it’s a little fancier than the public systems. (Even though it’s clear a bus hasn’t been here in years, because they would have done something about the genitalia.)

Karkat finds what he’s looking for, peels away the wallpaper, and reveals that there is a hole between the two plastic walls, and pulls out a cloth.

“I’ve missed this!” Karkat says shocked and wraps the cloth around himself.

It’s an old blanket, with what you believe to be crab designs on it. (?) A piece of paper falls out, and you pick it up.

“Hey, Karkat?”

  
“Yeah,” he says, happily. He must’ve loved that blanket, and he looks adorable and happy, but you get back on track.

“What does, ‘Back to where it all began.’ mean?”

“MOTHERFU-”

===>

You, Karkat Vantas, slam on the gas pedal, and whip out of the driveway of your hell hole house, and speed onto the highway. Dave holds onto the car seat like he’s about to fly off, and chuckles nervously.

“Karkat, slow down.”

  
“Fuck you.”

“If you don’t pull over this instant I’m jumping out of the car.” he threatens and you roll your eyes.

“Sure you are.” you scoff at him,

“Ok cool, we’re doing this,” Dave says and puts down the window.

“Dave it’s as cold as fuck outside, put down the window, and WHY THE HELL ARE YOU UNBUCKLING YOUR SEATBELT!”

“If you don’t slow down now,” Dave says seriously, face as neutral as ever, “I’m going to yeet myself out of the window and off of the bridge.” he threatens.

“You wouldn’t dare!”

  
“Fuck you.” Dave fires back, and swings his feet over the window, as you come to a screeching halt. In the middle of the highway. Luckily no one is behind you but you pull over, and Dave looks at you.

“What is wrong with you!”

“You’re the one who’s going 108 in a 55 mph zone Karkat!” he scolds, not yelling but not exactly the calmest voice either. “I know you’re stressed out right now, but you’re definitely not in any condition to drive. Move over,” he says, and you glare at him.

“Dave, you’re not going to drive my car. Now let’s go!” you yell at him and he crosses his arms and faces you.

“Karkat. I swear to God if I don’t drive right now.” his eyebrows furrow when he says this, and you know that he’s dead serious, “I’m going to walk home, and call Kanaya.” he says. You sigh, and reluctantly, get out of the car, and Dave climbs on over. “Good.”

“You’re being a jerk.”

“And you’re being a jackass, Karkat. I want to live through this ride along. If I die on this it better be from some cool as fuck explosion, not from a car accident! And also, I’m not sure if you’ve realized but I have a teenage brother at home who is expecting that I get back home in one piece!” he yells frustrated.

“Wait, who’s even with Dirk right now?”

“Uhhh….”

 

====>

You, Dirk Strider, have been holed up in your room all night. When you took your headphones off, you were expecting to hear the late night mixing from your older brother, but you're surprised to hear something else. It’s like 1 in the morning and you’re taking a break from your current project to eat a snack. You may have passed in your application, but that doesn’t mean you just stop inventing.

Once you enter the living room, you see familiar blue men and women on the TV screen and Jake waves hi to you.

“I didn’t think that you would be into My Little Pony,” he says, stifling a giggle.

Your crush is watching a movie. At your house. Your older brother isn’t here and probably called him over without telling you. And you’re in your My Little Pony boxer, shirtless. You‘re going to fucking kill Da-

===>

So you, Dave Strider, feel a cold chill run down your spine, but continue to drive down the highway. After a chilly moment of silence from Karkat, he takes in a deep breath and crosses his arms.

“Sorry for flipping out,” he apologizes and your heart warms a little.

“You’re forgiven. Sorry for trying to yeet myself out the window.”

“Just stop saying yeet like it’s a word,” he grumbles, but you both are alright.

After driving for about 30 minutes, Karkat flicks on the radio and puts it on NPR. You hear the drone of people instead of cool tunes, and you put your album on instead.

“Wha- I was listening to that!” he tries to protest and you crank up the volume.

“And now you’re listening to something you can enjoy. My album!”

“The shitty one or the new one?”

“None of my albums are shitty.”

“I beg to differ.”

“Then beg.”

“You’re weird.”

“So are you.” you shoot back at him, and he pouts. Seriously. It’s the cutest thing ever.

“We’re almost there.” he turns off the radio and points to show you where to go next.

“Where are we going anyways?” you ask him. He never did answer the question of where it all began anyway.

“The warehouse.”

“Karkat, you know that you’re my bro for life and whatever, but you’re going to have to give me more than ‘the warehouse’.”

“Fucking hell, it’s my warehouse,” he says, and looks at you. “Sorry, I’m new to the whole, let new people enter my life kind of thing. It’s not my warehouse, it used to be my parents,” he admits.

“Used to be?”

  
“They had a business. I don’t really remember it very well, I do know they weren’t doing so hot. Arguments, little food, bills first and then kids, you know? So, they borrowed more money than they could pay back.” his voice trembles a little bit as he says this, and he seems to get quieter with each word. “The loan sharks grew impatient, and one day they came in and…” he trails off. “Next thing I knew they adopted my brother and I. “ he finishes, “We’re here,” Karkat says, and motions for you to stop the car.

The warehouse his parents had is in the middle of nowhere. It stands alone in the middle of a field and looks so old, that you’re pretty sure that you’ve seen it in a horror movie before. Karkat grabs another gun from the glove compartment and puts it in his boot.

“For this part, you need to stay in the car,” he tells you.

“What! No!”

“You aren’t a trained officer Dave, you’re not going in. And Dave, I mean it, if you go inside it will be worse than the Whole Food Incident. I promise you. Do not come in, I’m serious Dave.” he says getting out of the car. “I don’t want you to be hurt,” he adds, and slams the door shut.

===>

You’ve done so many busts like these, it’s practically second nature to you. You walk up to the warehouse and enter the front door.

From where the clues have been placed in the locations, you know that your brother isn’t alone. And you also know it’s a captor vs victim situation from the way your brother wrote out the clues. Certain words jumped out to you and the handwriting got messier the further you investigated. You need to be cautious. The hair on the back of your neck stands up as you creep in, hopefully unnoticed.

Dave watches closely from the car, and you let the door close behind you with a gentle click.

It’s dusty as fuck in here, and each time you move, you choke on a mixture of dust and cobwebs. You pull your gun out, and crouch down, trying to get to the center of the room by one of the sides. There’s an upstairs, with the stairs to your left but that’s too much of a risk.

You crawl alongside the warehouse, trying to detect any light or anything to give you some clue what’s going on. There’s nothing except a single light on the far side of the room, shining like a beacon on the far side of the room. You need to go upstairs.

The moment you put a foot down, the stair immediately creaks, and you hear someone gasps but then try and cover it. Someone’s here, and they’re expecting you. At that point, hearing the gasp, and knowing your cover’s been blown, you run up the stairs prepared to face whatever danger that may await.

But, then, you see him. An older looking, gagged and tied up, older brother, sitting perfectly still as if he was expecting you. Your older brother whom you’ve resented for abandoning you, hated, and blamed for all your problems, is right there, in front of you, safe.

You want to scream and cry. You want to hit him for going missing, you want to hug him for all the years of missed hugs, but you're a police officer. And your job isn’t done.

The moment he sees you, Kankri’s eyes well up with tears, and you can see that he’s relieved to see you. But then, a look washes over him, and you see his eyes widen as he jerks around in the chair and trying to scream through the cloth. Then on the other side of this floor, you hear a movement and duck down, CRACK.

A bullet whizzes by where your ear once was and you whip out your gun, aiming for the figure in the distance. They’re small, and they run, becoming a blur and blending into the darkness. You run over to Kankri and untie him as he collapses in your arms.

“Brother, I have so much I want to tell you,” he says breathless, trying to get up, and then you realize. His ankle is swollen, and he’s keeping his weight off of it. Great, fan-fucking- tastic.

“Shut up Kankri, and let’s get the fuck out of here alive first!” you snap at him, and he shuts his mouth, and points to the window above you.

“Now, I don’t mean to trigger you…”

“Fucking get up douchebag and then we can talk,” you tell him, and drag him down the stairs.

The moment you turn to get to the door you entered, you see him. Short and stout, Clubs Deuce stands to block your exit, holding something in his hand. He smiles wickedly.

“See they wanted me to find a new base,” he says and you shiver, because you know exactly how this conversation will end.

“If this place blows up, Deuce, you’re going to blow up with it,” you growl at him, and he giggles.

“Nope. I won’t because I have to rebuild this place. Make it look fancy for when the Boss comes out.” he says. “So it’s gonna come down. The only thing is,” he says, opening the door, revealing a large chain in one of his hands, “ _You’re_ going to blow up with it.” he says, and dashing outside and locks you both in with a clang of chains.

===>

You, Dave Strider, see a tiny man come out of the door that Karkat went through, and locking it behind him. Karkat isn’t with him, and you assess the situation.  
‘  
Tiny man = bad guy

Karkat = still inside, presumably with his missing brother

Conclusion, do the one thing a normal person would do.

You throw the keys into the ignition and begin to drive.

  
===>

  
You, Karkat Vantas, have had your fair share of misfortunes. The comrade getting shot, the bad guy getting away, but this, by far, is the worst situation you could have ever placed yourself in. Panicking you try and find a way out. Kankri smiles at you and says, “Well this isn’t how I thought I would finally see you Karkat.”

“Fuck you for abandoning me in the first place!” you yell at him and look around the room. There has the be some way to get out! You see an ax on the other side of the room and place Kankri down to go and grab it.

“Well, you see I didn’t mean too.”

“Kankri, you aren’t going to tell me that you accidentally abandoned your baby brother for 36 years!” you yell, and wall the ax on the side of the warehouse.

The wall is made of thin metal and clangs with your hit. But you know that this plan is going to work. It has too. You bring the ax up again and slam it into the wall, and hear the groan of the metal swaying as it rattles against the rest of the warehouse.

Your brother is lying still on the ground, not moving, and you move over towards him, trying to see if he’s still breathing. When you see that he is, you take another look at his ankle. You see bruises mounting from his ankle up to his leg, and from his jeans, you can see a clear dent on the side of his leg. His knee is dislocated. You’re surprised that he was even able to walk/limp down the stairs with you.

“Just hold on a little bit longer,” you whisper to him and he gives you a weak smile.

“Take your time,” he says and points to the ax.

You take the ax and harnessed it with the painful memories of the past, anger of injustice, and all the other feelings you don’t want to have, you swing the ax like your life depends on it. Yours, and two other people.

The moment your ax hits the wall, it breaks through with a shattering echo. It’s only a small hole, but you can work with a small. Again and again, the ax comes down with more and more force, until you feel the peaceful breeze of a winter night on your face.

===>

  
The original plan was for you, Dave Strider, to ram the car in the barn doors to free Karkat and his bro from what look like chains in the distance and save the day like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. But things never go as planned.

Rose always told you that your driving sucks so much that you were going hit someone with your car, and tonight, you did.

Currently, an unconscious tiny man with a remote is lying unconscious in the front of the car. You feel absolutely terrible about this.

It was an accident but how on earth are you going to explain that to the police! Oh, what would Dirk think! One moment you were driving and he jumps right in front of. Why would he jump in front of the moving car!

You didn’t know what to do except call 911. And Karkat’s going to be pissed off about it, but you may have a dying man in front of you. What else are you supposed to do!

Finally, you come to the conclusion that you need to at least unlock the door for poor Karkat and his brother. And what better way to do that than to go back to the original plan?

  
You hop on out of the car and drag the unconscious man away from the path you’re going to make when you hear it.

The threatening noise that dominates your childhood with cuts and scrapes, bruises and broken bones, days upon days of wanting a normal life, that noise, hits you. The screech of metal hitting metal rickashays into your ears. It resonates in you, thumping deep down somewhere it shouldn’t be, and your breath begins to hitch. You’re hyperventilating, but as soon as the moment it should have happened arises, it disappears.

The tears and uncontrollable sobs of past traumas go away without a warning., it’s not bad. No one’s here to hurt you, and even though the screech of metal still continues you’re alright.

You’re in control and safe. It’s going to be ok.

Revving your engine, you prepare for impact when you see two figures limp their way out of the side of the warehouse.

===>

  
When you finally make it out, Kankri’s doing pretty badly, and you need to get him to the car and call 911. Dave’s sitting in the car, dangerously close the warehouse door. You both limp as fast as possible to get to him, because oh your fucking god that was one close call.

You’re surprised to not have died in a terrible explosion of pure death, and wonder why, until you see the unconscious Deuce lying on the field ground.

“DAVE!”

“Yeah!”

“Call 911!”

  
“Did about 10 minutes ago they should be here soon!” he says, getting out of the car to help you.

“How you holding up Kankri?” you ask your brother and he whimpers. “How long has your leg been like that?” you ask him, and Kankri smiles yet again.

“About a day.”

“Help is coming.”

“I’m just so glad to see you, brother,” Kankri says, and passes out on the both of you.

“Is he going to be alright?” Dave asks, setting him down on the ground next to Deuce. Wait, what!

“Did you manage to take down Deuce! How the fuck did you manage that!” you ask him and Dave smirks.

“I guess you’re not the only one who keeps secrets,” he says smiling, and crouching over Kankri. “We need to at least get the bone back in place before he dies, here, hold his hand, this is going to hurt like a fucking bitch,” Dave says, peering over Kankri.

“You know how to set a dislocated knee? How do you know that!”

“Here we go,” Dave says, stuffing his sweater in Kankri’s mouth, and begins to push.

===>

You, Dave Strider, are watching the sunrise on a truly eventful night. You helped your best bro find his long-lost brother, accidentally took down a bad guy with your car, and set a dislocated knee. All in all, you can say that it's been a very eventful morning.

Karkat't talking to the other officers, explaining what's happening, giving up the drugs, and you're sitting on the hood of the car, waiting for him to come back.

You're going to need a day to process of all the events that have happened tonight, but right now you're enjoying the sunrise. Focus on the little things, the bigger things we can store for later.

Karkat eventually makes his way over to you, and hops on the trunk with you and watches the sunrise. The emergency responders have already taken Karkat's brother and Deuce to the hospital. He hands you a cup of coffee and takes a giant sip out of his.

"How are you holding up?"

"Pretty good, probably traumatized if I'm going, to be honest," you say and he nods his head.

"Same," he says, and then leans back on the turn to look at the sky. "Hey Dave," he says and you join him laying on the trunk.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for coming with me again."

"That's why I'm here."

"Seriously."

"Got it, dude. You'd do the same for me," you say and the two of you watch the sky a bit longer when Karkat sits up suddenly and looks at you.

"Did you spend the entire night with your shades on?"

"Hell yeah."

"Why don't take them off?"

"Because."

"I swear Dave, I'm going to find out your eye color!"

"Not before I find out what happened at Whole Foods!" you say, and Karkat flashes a grin at you.

"Wanna bet on it?"

"Hell fucking yes! And I'm going to beat you so fucking hard you'll cry," he says laughing and hopping off the trunk. "C'mon, let's head back."

"Agreed. I'm so tired."

"At least you get to sleep, I have to head into work. Someone has too. "

"I cook and clean and do everything around the house, all you seem to do is drink beers and watch games," you snort. He begins to drive off, and the both of head home, ready to face whatever the day has in store for you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that was a ride and a half, I think I have whiplash after all that action. Man, this chapter was so much fun to write, and I hope you can see it in the work. A few quick things:
> 
> 1) If any of you know how to put color in the text in Archive, may you please tell me. I have been meaning to write some pester conversation, but I am so bad with technology, I can't seem to figure it out. Please just put in the comments, your help is greatly appreciated!
> 
> 2) I'm heading into the midterm season, so I'm going to take 3 weeks instead of 2 for the next chapter. Sorry in advance for the long wait
> 
> 3) Thanks so much for reading! To be honest, when I first started this, I didn't really expect anyone to read it so every comment and like really made an impact on me. Thank you so much! 
> 
> Stay safe and have fun guys, until next time! ^x^


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave and Karkat write out their real feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! To kick off the second day, here's the long awaited for, promised chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 10

Day 1===> Dave

Yoyoyo welcome back to the I FEEL journal, or what I like to call, fucking hell. I frickin hate this, but gotta write in this thing to stay healthy, so yeah, here we go.

I feel, well, confused. And scared. My Bro was just, well...goddammit! I’m still struggling to say shit like this and I’m writing in a fucking journal. Now, I feel frustrated! I just don’t understand why, after so many years, he suddenly shows up in my life. I feel anxious all the time, frustrated, and panicky, so essentially back to how it was before. I’m beginning to jump at my own shadow, and I hate it. 

Another thing I hate is how well Karkat is handling all of this. He should be scared too, but he’s all calm and quiet. He refuses to talk about what happened to him today, despite the fact it’s clear that something is clearly wrong. Kanaya texted me saying how he’s had a rough day, but why won’t he talk about it! This also makes me feel frustrated because I want to help. I mean, he’s helping me with my shit, but I can’t do the same for him! He can be so annoying!

Day 46===>Karkat

I am pissed. And I hate this fucking activity so fucking much, but I have to go through the day’s events and how I reacted to situations I where I got angry blah….blah….BLAH. 

Today, a pervert hit on me. A creepy ass motherfucking pervert, which sucks major ass. I threw my bag at him, which I am definitely not sorry for, but I know there was probably a less violent way of dealing with that. But, as redemption, when he said a private detail about my life which no one knew (except for my friends) I kept my dignity and walked away. 

Kanaya had to calm me down though when we were questioning a suspect. I am definitely not proud of that. 

And to end the day on a good note, my roommate was harassed earlier. Which didn’t end well for either one of us. I hate the fact that it happened to him because he’s super nice, but he’s got a dickwad dad. I can tell he doesn’t want to talk about it, so I didn’t push for details. 

It makes me angry when he doesn’t open up about these kinds of things, but I’m just being nosy. Plus how it isn’t for me to want him to open up first when I refuse to open up about anything.

Day 5 ===>Dave

Ugh, goddammit, I still hate admitting how I feel, even in this journal, which no one reads. I should’ve burned it, like how Issa Twaimz burns that picture in the Crush Song music video. Anyways, I feel...flustered I think.\ For the past couple of days, Karkat’s been working hard, like non-stop. He got me my restraining order, talked to more people, and is focused on his case. What I didn’t know though, is that when Karkat is focused on a case, he will be on top of everything (helping out with Dirk, doing chores, moving back in) but himself.

He overworked himself. They sent him home early because he nearly passed while grabbing a cup of coffee. He wasn’t happy about that, but after pestering Dirk, I found out he hasn’t been sleeping for eight days! Eight! That’s over an entire week, and he hasn’t been sleeping!

I talked to Kanaya, who said that he can go like 2 weeks before nearly passing out. She suspects that because this case is so stressful and he’s in a new environment, it wore him out early.

He was extraordinarily grumpy when he came home, and wanted to watch a movie with me. Currently, he’s fast asleep on my lap, right. Now. What in the actual fuck. 

Not to diss Karkat, but he’s pretty good looking when he isn’t glaring at people. He’s actually kinda cute. But him being cute doesn’t get rid of this thumping in my chest or butterflies in my stomach. 

I don’t like the feeling I have right now. I’m so conflicted that I can’t even distinguish it, but I know I’m flustered. I feel all mushy and gross, but at the same time, it was only a tiny, super weird, but definitely miniscule part of me that was feeling that. It will go away soon.

Day 51===> Karkat

Ok, I deserve a round of applause for the way I reacted today….thank you. 

First off, they sent me home early because they believed I was “incapable” of doing my job. No one in that office can top my detective skills, and they know it, the jealous assholes. But, instead of throwing what Kanaya calls a “hissy-fit” but I call justified retribution, I just went home. Listened to orders, did a breathing exercise, and called it a day. 

Even so, the person who had brought forth a rage unlike one I have ever experienced before was myself. I fell asleep on my roommate’s lap like a three-year-old! I hate myself for doing it. His younger brother woke me up, and to save face, I calmly pretended like I was still sleepy, went into my room, and resisted the urge to punch myself in the face!

I have no clue why I acted like that when I need to focus on the case. Crushes and love are for people who want to be broken, and I can’t have that happen again. It will go away soon like it always does. 

Day 7 ===> Dave

It didn’t go away! I am a homosexual man, who can appreciate other dudes for being hot regardless of their sexual orientation, but damn. Karkat fucking hot! Oh my god! My current emotion is reeling. I’m reeling from how cute he is.

Even though he’s ripped (and I’m talking about a six-pack and everything) I also feel nervous around him. I’m always walking on eggshells around Karkat because he refuses to let his guard down, even though I feel like Dirk and I have done everything to prove we’re trustworthy. 

On a better note, I am also feeling hopeful. I haven’t seen/heard/thought(for the most part) about my Bro. Dirk’s also been doing well, still snarky as usual, but it’s been calm. I even managed to come out with a new album. I hope it stays this way. 

Day 54 ===> Karkat

I refuse to admit that Dave’s new album is good, dare I say, great. That fucker is already so fucking cocky that he needs to go to the North Pole for the next three millennia to cool off. He’s been bugging me to appreciate his, and I quote, “fresh-hot Strider beats”. But I cannot. 

He’s been annoying me for the last hour, and I have listened to it, and he’s good, I’ll give him that. But, I can’t let him know that. I’m not being a “tsundere” as Nepeta would accuse me of, but I think it’s more of fearful. 

It pisses me off that I’m scared to trust him, or myself, enough to talk to him about this kind of stuff. Or anyone, I’m writing in a motherfucking journal, I think that should emphasize how much I don’t trust people. 

I get so mad at myself for putting up these barriers but I need them. It’s a dance, which I’m trapped to participate in for eternity. Even though I despise this wall, it’s protected me in more ways than I can count. 

Which means honest emotions and showing that I can actually care for people is a definite no. All I can do is wait and see if something changes. Until then, sorry Dave, sorry Dirk but I have to look out for myself... 

Day 11 ===> Dave

I was. The smoothest. Motherfucker on the fucking planet today. I feel accomplished, and here’s why:

So, Karkat’s been holed up in his room for the past couple of days, and said, and I quote, cause I’m smartest DJ on this block with a college education, that he needed a “Quiet place so don’t you even think about disturbing me with your fucking antics Strider!” 

And I, being the respectable gentlemen that I am, obliged….for like a day. What can I say, my irresistible Strider charms weren’t being put in good use. I didn’t do much, just left a cup of water, with some food by his door each day, with a gentle knock. 

Eventually, I was able to go inside his room, which, was a bit concerning at first. With the darkroom, laptop screen, and giant pile of blankets and pillows, I genuinely thought he looked like a maniacal drug addict.

I gave him a cup of tea, and not even I, the great all knowing Dave Strider, can tell you what the fuck happened but it’s like a fucking switch went off. He invited me over to stay and “look over” his assignments. 

I think we bonded. We just chilled in his room and talked about his suspects. Karkat told me that the ones he has, the only ones he has, are trash because they all have major flaws that wouldn’t allow them to fuck with us. 

We talked about the case some more, watched a couple of movies and talked. It was hella rad. 

Karkat, willingly, talked to me! Without getting all weird about it! And, I finally know how he knows Mrs. MacNeil.

He was in the foster care system for a bit but then he got adopted. She was his caseworker, and he hates her fucking guts. 

That was a lot for him to admit, and I’m proud of him for doing so. Maybe I do have a chance after all. 

Day 58 ===> Karkat

Maybe, some walls are meant to be taken down. 

Day 69 ===> Karkat

Despite the fact I have been “bros” with Dave, he still manages to find ways to piss me off. But, I can kinda see a new side of him, where he’s not as big as a tool as I originally thought. 

For once in my goddamn life, I’m not going to go on an angry rant because a stupid buffoon did so and so to me, but this is more of an embarrassed appreciation for my new found friend and his family. Yesterday was Thanksgiving. The first Thanksgiving I’ve had with …..well….anyone. Dave was hosting and I live there, so it was impossible to avoid it. And Dave was sweet enough to invite me. 

I can finally understand why people are so obsessed with this godforsaken holiday. It was...nice. Roxy and Dirk were holed up in his room and only came out to sneak some food away from the table. Rose and Kanaya were relaxing on the couch and god are they going to be a cute married couple later. Dave was in the kitchen the entire time cooking, and I was…. “helping”. Kanaya says I was flirting, but unless you call having a conversation with another human being flirting, then yes. I was “flirting”.

Maybe I should celebrate these kinds of holidays more.

Day 25===> Dave

So, Thanksgiving was a thing that happened. I feel very thankful for the people in my life, and the people who are going to stay in my life too. 

Things have gotten a bit better, somewhat calmer. Dirk is still stressing out about his project, but thankfully his project isn’t due yet. I want him to succeed and I know he will. Good luck lil’ dude. 

Day 75 ===> Karkat

There is always a calm before a storm. A moment where you think to yourself that this is too good to be true, and it all goes to hell. 

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve felt nothing except this tension. There have been only moments where I can forget about it, but it never fully leaves. Today, I lost my shit. 

It was bad, I screamed and yelled, said some things I definitely never should have said, and to a victim. 

Mr. Cronus Ampora came in this morning, privately, begging for help and protection. He said that someone was out to get him and he didn’t want to die. He promised me information, anything but I refused.

I called him paranoid, overdramatic, and turned away. He said that he was given too many chances and that he was to die by the end of the day. He said that my brother’s life was at risk too. But I ignored him. Said that he and my brother should eat shit and die because that's what they deserved. 

He was found dead later that day. In a sketchy neighborhood known for gang activity, a gunshot through the heart and head. 

I regret a lot of things today. I treated him just like how everyone has treated me almost every single day of my life, and I saw the ending. I saw my future in Cronus, the way he panicked thinking someone was out to get him, and I saw my past, begging for help. 

But I refuse to have this be my future. A man is dead because of me, but when I find the murder, they will fucking regret it. I made mistakes today, but I won’t let them drag me down. I’ll learn from them, and give Cronus the revenge he deserves. 

Day 33 ===> Dave

I feel sad. And scared. And anxious. And tired. Basically all the gross feelings a cool dude like me should never feel. 

I talked to Karkat about what had happened to him the other night. He was so down in the dumps he looked like that cat Tom, who always chases the mouse in the cartoons, after his lady rejected him day after day. I gave him some space, and he opened up about it.

The dude’s been opening up about nearly everything. Not that I’m complaining, but it was some heavy stuff right there. I gave him a hug and we talked for a bit. But it’s not like I’m having a great time either. 

Yesterday I saw my Bro at the club I was working at. He was sitting in the VIP room, surrounded by a bunch of ladies macking on him, but he stared me down the entire time. He even had the nerve to come up to me when I was done too. Thankfully the club was still crowded, everyone’s eyes were still on me. 

He told me that he wasn’t going to stop until I fought him. He wanted a clean fair fight, one which he has never done in his entire life, and I refused. He threatened that he will do something to make me do it, he told me things would only get worse from here. 

He is a creepy asinine motherfucker, and he’s everywhere that I am. I mean, now I have the restraining order, but it’s only a flimsy piece of paper. That won’t keep him away. 

I know we have unfinished business, I know at some point I am going to have to fight him, one final time, but I don’t want to. 

He always said that a Strider always finishes a fight, always sees it through, leaves no one alive, shit he practically ingrained that in me, but I can’t become a killer like him. I won’t. 

But, Bro crossed a line today. He threatened Dirk. I’m proud of Dirk and the way he handled it, he was with his “friend” (so totally gay for him) Jake, and Jake really tried to let Bro have it. Dirk’s currently in his room now, sleeping I hope. 

Karkat was really pissed when he heard this and practically begged me if it was ok to put a squad car out for his arrest. I mean, if there is a small chance the cops are able to find him and arrest him, then fuck yes send out the cars. But even I know that my Bro will manage to slither out of this one. 

If there’s one thing I’d fight that asshole for, it would be Dirk. Dirk doesn’t deserve any of this shit, and if my Bro tries and get Dirk involved, I will make him pay.

Day 83 ===> Karkat

It’s December now, and I want to kill myself. I hate everything about December! It’s always cold, people are obnoxious about presents, it’s just fake cheer all around! 

What makes it fucking worse is that the people I live with are obsessed with Christmas! And I hate it. Those two idiots are making the most annoyingly ironic festive decorations for this year. Dave’s got the tree in the living room and Dirk’s been putting ornaments everywhere. The only good thing that’s coming out of this ridiculous tree murdering celebration is that they both seem a bit happier than they’ve been for the past week. I’m relieved for that. 

Today Dave threw tinsel at me to wake me up. I wasn’t happy about it, at all. I wanted to throw a pillow at his face, but I just asked him nicely to avoid doing that in the future. He laughed and left. His laugh always sounds nice. 

Kanaya says that even though this case is stressful, I’ve been managing quite nicely. It’s the moments when I’m alone where the anger can get out of control, I’ll admit that. Plus having an extremely moody and sassy 13-year-old living with me has given me some patience. 

It’s just nice to see the progress I’ve made. 

Day 41 ===> Dave

I feel jolly like fucking Santa Claus on Christmas because guess what? It fucking Christmas! Christmas is the StriLondes favorite holiday so, of course, we’re doing our best to spread the Christmas cheer. Dirk told me that I should love my gift, since it is homemade, and I'm excited to see what my cool as hell lil’ bro made me. 

But, what makes this Christmas special is that we have our very own Grinch living with us! Karkat’s been grumpier than someone farted in his stocking and was given a lump of coal every single year. God. 

Even so, I can tell that he’s definitely warmed up to us. He even joined us on our annual Hallmark Christmas movie marathon we do every Friday leading up to Christmas. It surprised me to see him cry at some of them, the softie. I can tell, that this year will be a special Christmas. 

Day 93 ===> Karkat

I am going to murder someone! Everyone I work with are such idiotic shitstains and refuse to pull their heads out of their asses to realize important cases even when it's smacking them. Right. There!

Today Captain told me to drop the case. Entirely. No heads up or anything she wanted me to move on! It was ridiculous! She told me that it's been a month without any leads and there has yet to be any activity, specifically by the gang, so it should be safe to drop the case. 

But she doesn't understand. The Crew will never stop, they've only been waiting for an opportunity like this. They wanted Captain to throw the case so that they can make my life a living disaster. Honestly, I became a cop to get the fuck away from them, and I won't let this stop me. 

I believed I handled myself with the most dignity I could muster in the moment. I just dropped it. It isn't that I don't understand why she wants me to do this (Trust me in New York, there aren't enough cops) but I need to do this. I made it my life to bag away those assholes, and I'm mad that I'm being stopped here. 

Another thing that pissed me off, and was fucking suspicious, was that I saw Dave's Bro. He was chatting with some people in an alley new the station, definitely some sketchy people. When he saw me, the motherfucker had the nerve to run away. He managed to flash away on the roof of the precinct and ninja jump away. 

It's clear that Bro is an abusive dick, cause each time I try and bring it up to Dave, he gets all weird about it. That, of course, makes me want to catch that asshole more because (and don't you ever have Dave read this because I’m straining to type this out) but Dave's my friend. A close friend. And I don't ever want to see him get all weird about anyone. 

Ugh. The very thought of his Bro just boils my blood. Seriously! I'm surprised Dave came out relatively ok from that hell hole, and Dirk. Jesus, Dirk is so sweet I just want him to be happy. 

The both of them have been very understanding with my frustrations about the case. I'm scared that I won't be able to work on it as much, but I know I will get through this. I have too, for their sake and mine. 

Day 51 ===> Dave

Yo, I have got to be the breathe supportive best bro a person can have because I'm just laying on the love like Dirk plays on the jelly for his PB and Js. 

Karkat came home today and he told me that his Captain is forcing him off of the case. He was really depressed, and a little bit scared too. But I got that shit covered like a baby in a blanket. 

We started having these things called “feelings jams” that Karkat absolutely hates the name of, but it's seriously helped me out. Which is both a good thing and a bad one, I guess. 

My therapist made sure to emphasize how this was a journal about me and how it's about my feelings and how I shouldn't be filling it about events that happened to other people. Which I guess the other person here would be Karkat. 

But at the same time, despite the I Feel (like hell) Journal these feelings sessions are exactly what I'm doing here, except with another human being. I just feel a bit more normal talking about it with a buddy, that's all. 

Day 103 ===> Karkat 

It's Christmas, whoop-de-doo and just throw me off of a cliff! Both Striders have been neck deep in so much ironic bullshit that I'm about to explode. 

Dirk covered the entire fucking hallway in tinsel. Dave cooked like three turkeys and THAT'S IT. And both of them, the bastards, got rid of every single drink in the house and replaced it with eggnog. EGGNOG! Dave even had the nerve to THROW AWAY my fucking coffee. 

Despite this morning being rough, it was a nice gathering. The Lalondes came over for brunch and for gift exchanges, and Dave is having a nice party which is still going pretty strong.

Did you know he's friends with John Egbert? Do you remember I referenced him on pg 32 Secret Totallynotanonlinediary File! I mean, I tried keeping touch, but once I went to college I kinda lost touch with all of my old high school friends. Maybe I should reach out to some of them? I'm not sure. 

But the most interesting information that I've gathered is that Dave had a crush on John. It was interesting and you could see it in Dave's body language. And the fact that John blurted it, loudly, in front of everyone during those lapses of silence that emerge during parties. Dave turned red! His face flushed and everything, it was totally adorable. 

Christmas is still a holiday I believe the government created to a have a boom in the economy and brainwash its consumers to believe it's for the sake of friends and family, BUT, this year, I made an exception and participated.

There was only one incident that happened today, and I’m....I'm a little embarrassed. An extremely close to drunk, but tipsy Rose sauntered her way into the middle of a conversation that Dave and I were having. She spilled her drink on me, which wasn't a big deal until she started to, drunkenly I might add, give out her psycho analyzation of me! 

She accused me of being depressed and anxious and all the good stuff people love to say I have but I was not in the mood to hear all that shit. I called her out on it, maybe a little too loudly, cause by the time I was finished, I had the attention of everyone in the room. Which I didn't want. It kinda sucks. I apologized, excused myself, and here I am. I can hear Dave knocking now, so I'm going to go. 

Day 61 ===> Dave

Y'all. It's Christmas! If there is one holiday I love celebrating it would definitely be Christmas because it's the fucking best. 

I feel jolly, excited, and happy! Christmas means present giving and present receiving and again I can look back and see progress. 

Presents were such a fucking trigger for me but now… I’ve come to learn how to accept them without crying my fucking eyes out. And Karkat tried, but Dirk got me the best present ever. 

Homemade, iSunglasses! It's like my phone, only hooked up to a new pair of sweet shades, and he was right, I'm obsessed. Of course, it's still really buggy because he's 13 with little time and access to recreate them, but even still, they're fucking lit. 

Right now, I’m in Karkat ’s room. He threw a tantrum earlier and just fucked off, but, since I’m his best bro, I joined him. I have to say that this was the first incident I've seen with him pissed off, and I told Rose it's time to lay off the rosé for a bit. Even still, Kanaya says it’s better than the Whole Foods Incident, which I will make it my resolution to see what the fuck happened there. 

I feel calm. At peace, for the most part, and safe. I also want that to be my resolution for the new year. 

Day 105 ===> Karkat

It’s only been two months living with Dave and Dirk, and I’m already so attached to them that it physically pains me. 

This is very difficult for me to put into words, which is a first for me since I never struggle with putting anything to words. I don’t like the feelings I have now. There’s too many for me to process, and all they do is swirl around and get me a headache. So, to better understand myself, I have to lay down the facts as I see them. 

Fact 1) Kanaya was right, I can’t keep isolating myself from society, it won’t end well. 

Fact 2) Dave and Dirk, and Rose and Roxy are all people who are close to me and who I trust.

Fact 3) Having new people I actually like and trust makes me feel...weak. And insecure. 

Synopsis: 

I know that living for years alone and my primary function was to work, has left me without any protection against any new kinds of emotions. Including the ones, I have now. I don’t think it’s normal for people to feel weak and aggravated at themselves when they make new friends. 

Conclusion: 

I think in every relationship, no matter what kind there is always a little fear, but never the need to constantly put your guard up in order to make sure you don’t look weak. Which is why I have concluded that I should probably go to therapy. Figure some shit out. I don’t want anyone to get hurt because I’m scared of getting hurt myself. No one deserves that. 

Day 72 ===> Dave

Finally! I can burn this piece of crap I feel journal. I feel relieved I can finally get rid of this thing. 

Even with the looming fact that my Bro can come and attack me at any second, I feel a bit more relaxed. Only a tiny bit more. And you wanna know why? Because I just saw the most heartfelt thing the world has ever seen. It’s more romantic than Titanic, more of a tear-jerker than an Inuyasha movie, more heartwarming than apple pie. 

I went into the living room and guess who was there? Karkat. Guess what he was doing? Looking at evidence for the past case. Seriously, this guy doesn’t stop. He’s more unstoppable than Chuck Norris and damn, I can’t help but feel a bit safer knowing that he hasn’t given up. I could just swoon into those big muscley arms of his. (Yes, muscley is a word)

But even as cool as I, Dave Strider, am, I have to handle this problem up front. Karkat’s strong, but he can’t be doing the work of two people. What kind of bro would I be if I just laid back and let my bro carry me? No, this is a broship. And in this broship, we’re going to face our fucking fears. 

Now, I’m not saying the next time my Bro rolls around I’ll fight him like he’s been begging too. But, I don’t want to have another panic attack, or hyperventilate, or anything! I just want to talk to him like another human being, but I have a feeling that won’t happen. 

Even so, it’s not like I’m alone in this fight, I can do it...hopefully

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for reading and commenting, they really keep me going! The next chapter will be up 2 weeks from now, see you then. ^x^


	13. Intermission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't a chapter, but a quick intermission. Sorry about the false alarm, folks! >X<

~~~~~~~~2 years later ~~~~~~~~

You, Karkat Vantas, are drinking a cup of nice hot coffee, watching the sunrise. It’s hard to believe it’s only been a year since everything ended. You take a deep breath of fresh air, boy it’s the first time you can do this calmly without having to worry about anything. 

You hear Dave’s footsteps behind you, and he takes a seat next to you, yawning. 

“Sup, babe?” he asks you. You love it when he just rolls out of bed. His hair is sticking up in different directions, his shades are off, and he's relaxed. God, you're such a sucker for him, aren't you? 

“Morning to you too, dumbass,” you growl., knowing that this peace and quiet is gone. He smirks and sits next to you, opening a bottle of apple juice. 

“Watching the sunrise?” he asks and you nod. “It’s been a while since we’ve last done this, huh?” he says, sitting down next to you. 

“Yeah, about a year or two,” you say. 

“Wasn’t that my first ride along with you?” Dave asks, and you nod. “It’s still hard to believe that all that shit’s over.” he sighs, and you grab his hand. 

“Shut up,” you say, and he wraps an arm around you, as you let your head rest on his shoulder. 

“Yeah.” he agrees, and the two of you calmly watch the sunrise. 

“Hey, Dave?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

“I already know that dumbass,” he says, but plants a kiss on your forehead anyway. 

“Shut the fuck up, Dave!”

“Love you too Karkat,” he says, and the two of you breath easy, and enjoy another peaceful day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I genuinely meant to finish the chapter for this week, but midterms really did get the best of me. Don't worry, I survived (...barely), but, I didn't focus a lot on the next chapter. It's a big one and I want to give it to you finished, not halfway. Hopefully, you guys can still hold off for another week...Until then, stay safe and healthy! ^x^


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it's late...and short...but it's here! Enjoy!

Chapter 12

It’s been a long fucking day for you, Karkat Vantas. Your captain had a lot of questions about what had happened last night, Kanaya was upset that you didn’t call her, but she did the biggest smirk when she had heard who was your partner. 

You haven’t had a break from people, and you’re about to lose it. Currently, you’re waiting to speak with your brother who is in the hospital. Ever since he’s entered your life though, he. Hasn’t. Stopped. Talking! 

“Really Karkat, how on earth are you expected to be a police officer with a posture like that! Sit up straight.”

 

“Fuck you Kankri.”

“Also, another thing. Your language, though said by many may make you look more honest, is vulgar. Truly vulgar. You need to stop and watch your tongue, you have no clue who you could trigger from your insensitivity.”

“Kankri shut the fuck up.”

 

“Are your ears as bad as your posture? Did you not hear a word of what I just said? I just warned you of the dangers of swearing and here we are again with the swearing. When will it end Karkat?”

 

“I’m beginning to regret saving you.”

“But you didn’t. And if that doesn’t show our brotherly love, I’m not sure what does,” he says smiling at you and you glare at him. 

“No, I saved your ass cause it helps my case, and I have so many questions for you,” you glare at him. His smile fades, and he grips the hospital blanket, facing away from you. 

“Woah, who died?” Dave asks, causing the both of you to jump out of your skin and him also. “What’s going on? Karkat how are you still up? Did you even get any sleep today?” Dave asks you and you roll your eyes at him.

“Sleep is for the weak Strider.”

“And another thing, Karkat, how are you expected to do your job properly if you can even get a proper night’s rest? I mean, as unhealthy as it is to sleep during the day when was the last time you slept?”

“I’ll get some rest, Kankri, when you tell me what I need to know. Why were you gone for so long? How did you get kidnapped? What’s going on? Did you know Cronus Ampora?” you fire these questions at Kankri, who sputters to find the answers until you say his name.  
“Cronus? You know, I’m sorry,” he says correcting himself, “You knew him?” his voice breaks a bit, and Dave drops the flowers on the bed. 

“I’m just gonna, uh...go? Now? If that’s alright?” he says awkwardly, and you nod. “Night ‘Kat,” he says and ducks away. 

“Yeah, I knew that sleazebag. Why?”

“Cronus was, oh god, he was, my boyfriend.” Kankri chokes out, and he begins to cry. Well, shit, you always had Kanaya deal with stuff like this, but now, you kinda can’t.

“I’ll give you a minute. Want something to drink?” you ask him and he nods, barely keeping in his grief. The grief that you caused. You quietly click the door shut behind you, and bump into Dave, who was waiting in the hall. 

“You alright?” he asks, and you collapse to the ground on your knees. 

“Yes, Dave, I’m doing fan-fucking-tastic! I got my brother to cry, I’ve had my Captain up my ass, and people keep on talking to me! I’ve had zero sleep, only got one bad guy who wasn’t even a threat and still have two dangerous criminals who are still after me! Not to mention that your shitbag father is still out there doing god knows what! I reminded my brother about his lover's death that I basically enabled by not listening to him and I haven’t had any caffeine in my system FOR OVER 5 HOURS!” you yell. Usually, some people get more frightened as you vent your frustrations, there even have been a time when Kanaya threatened to call the police. And she’s the police. But Dave smirks and gives you a little laugh which helps. Only a little bit though. 

“You’ve been doing a lot, huh?”

“How the fuck is you so fucking calm about this! There’s still so much to be done, and I can barely even think with all of this going on!” you cry, and that’s when you realize it. You, Karkat Vantas, felt a tear on your cheek as you gazed up at Dave. And another. And another. “I just don’t know what’s what anymore!” you whine and Dave kneels down on the floor next to you, and gives you a hug. 

It’s a nice, warm, safe-feeling hug, and it goes on for a bit as you finally, for what feels like years of pent up stress and frustration cry out everything. He hugs you a bit tighter, and after you get out all that emotion, he stands up. 

“What you need right now is a break. C’mon.” And he takes your hand.

===>

 

After you, Dave Strider, got Karkat some coffee, you head outside and are currently sitting on a bench listening to some music. Not even your music, just some mellow tunes to hopefully calm Karkat down. You could see him peeking at you through the corner of your eyes, but when he realizes that you notice, he blushes, and looks away, shifting his gaze, naturally, to a couple that walks in front of you guys, holding in hands. 

“Whatcha thinking about, ‘Kat?” you ask him and he sighs. 

“I’m thinking about…” he begins and his gaze shifts over to a little boy with his mother as she scoops him up and hurries off somewhere. 

“Same.”

“Thanks for this Strider,” he says and finishes off the rest of his coffee and standing up. “I just needed to think about something else for a while,” 

“Like?”

 

“How fucking right Kanaya is and that moving in with you wasn’t that bad,” he says, and dusts off his pants. “Look, I’ll go to sleep after I ask my brother a couple of questions.” as you begin to object he lifts a hand up. “This is my job Dave, and I’m gonna do it. I’ll make sure Dirk eats something, and I promise I’ll go to sleep. Swear on Whole Foods.” he says and crosses his hand over his heart. You sign and leave the matter be. 

“You’re a stubborn asshole you know that?”

“At least I’m a smart one who’s loyal to my job. Speaking of, don’t you have work tonight?” he asks you and you roll your eyes. Shit glasses. 

“Fuck you asshole. I also want a rundown tomorrow morning so see you then!” You say and head off. He watches you go, waves, and heads inside. 

This is going to be a long night. 

===>

You, Karkat Vantas, grab a hot drink for your brother and head inside. Kankri looks at the window and only turning to face you when he sees the drink. 

“Thank you, dear brother,” and you lift up a finger.

“No. You do not get to call me that until you explain yourself,” you say and he takes a sip staring into the tea. 

“It all started when I left for college. You saw me off, and I’m pretty sure that was the last I ever saw of you. Our father told me that I wasn’t allowed to come back since I was 18 and finally a ‘man’ oh you know how he is. He told me...He told me that he actually needed someone useful in the family and that he was going to mold you to become the opposite of the disappointment I was. He threatened to stab me if he ever saw my face near him or you.

Normally I would ignore him, but he sounded serious, and I thought well, at least when I graduate I’ll be able to see you then. So I did, got a job, found a decent apartment, and I tried. I promise you Karkat I did. But each time I tried to get near, I was warned. Randomly shoved in a crowd of people, pushed into the street, they even managed to sprain my ankle. And each time they did it, they would give me something of yours. A picture with a knife through it, yearbook photos with blood, there was always something stopping me, and I thought...I thought that maybe since he likes you, Karkat, that you would be safe. And if I kept trying, I would be putting that safety in jeopardy.

So I lived close by, I sent out little hints in messages to you, that I now know that the crew intercepted. I was depressed because my little brother was growing up thinking I abandoned him. And one night, at a bar, I met him for the first time. Cronus. 

And oh, he was truly magnificent Karkat. He showed me how to dance, how to drink, how to be happy. I told him about what had happened between us, and he looked into it. He said that if he followed another man’s orders that one day I would be able to see you. I never knew who that man was, and Cronus never told me, but he always sent an informant to tell Cronus what to do next. But then Cronus made the mistake to slip up and then they killed him for it. 

They also realized that since Jack was arrested, they had to find someone to keep their eyes on me, and so one day, as I was sitting in the park, drinking because of well, you know, yeah. It isn’t characteristically common for me, but you need to understand, I felt like a failure. Still, do, the fact that I can’t protect the ones I love you and Cronus I just needed something to get my mind off of it. 

It was then that Clubs walks up to me, and then I blacked out. When I woke up I was tied to a chair in your old room and found out his plan. Clubs wanted to kill two birds with one stone, by keeping my mouth shut permanently, and ending your little chase. So he drugged me for a couple of days and dragged me around. But when we got to the warehouse, to make sure I wasn’t going to keep being trouble, he did this little number on me. 

Believe what you will Karkat, but I need you to know this, I love you. I love you and I never wanted anything to happen to you.” he says tears welling up again. And even though you still resent him, a little less now you should add, you hug him. “Now, can you please get some rest. You can harass me with your questions tomorrow,” he says and you nod. 

“Wait, Kankri, did you know the informant?”

“Yes?”

“What was his name?”

“Gamzee, I believe. Gamzee Makara.”


End file.
